[2:154] And say not of those slain in God's way: 'They are dead'; rather they are living; but you are not aware.
Life passed away from them in this world but they arrived at eternal life in the end. They are, in truth, living, finding all kinds of special gifts (karamāt) from God.
It is said they are living because God is the One Who takes over (khalaf) after them and anyone for whom God is the substitute is not dead. The one who spoke for them said about one who was created:
Verily through you ʿItāb has departed
for the sake of His way,
but he who remains belongs to Him.
Like Khālid, he has not died.
It is said they are living by God's remembrance of them. By the beauty of His eternal remembrance, one who is the object of the Real's remembrance is not dead.
It is said verily their corporeal forms (ashbāḥ) are dispersed (mutafarriqa), but their spirits (arwāḥ) are proven true (mutaḥaqqiqa) through the Real (s). If their corporeal forms have been annihilated through God, their spirits have remained through God, for whoever is annihilated through God, his remaining is through God.
It is said they are living in the testimonial witnessings of exaltation, the cloak of awe upon them. They are in the shade of intimacy, delighted by His beauty in one moment and overwhelmed by His majesty in the next.