But if it departs from this body while some remnant of the trial still hangs over it, it is turned back [mardud] until its knowledge reaches absolute completion.

[151] Then the Scholar—His glory is mighty—said: 'The souls of the believers are recruited soldiers.' The souls reside only in the loftiest heights unless they are actively stationed in Paradise; for their souls never inhabit the confinement of loins, nor the darkness of the womb.'

[152] Our Master, the Commander of the Faithful [Imam Ali]—His glory is mighty—said: 'They did not inhabit physical loins, nor did the darkness of wombs enclose them, nor were they created from a despised fluid—which symbolizes vile deeds. Rather, they were created from a flowing, pristine water—which symbolizes righteous deeds.' For souls possess a form structured like bodies, yet they are gossamer-subtle and luminous; none can perceive them except those who match them in subtlety and luminosity. For the dense cannot perceive the subtle, nor can the subtle perceive the dense. This, then, is the description of the believers' souls and their cyclical migrations across physical bodies [naqlatuhum fi al-abdan]."