Es-Sāʿiqa is interpreted in four ways:
1. By the word es-Sāʿiqa, what is meant is death that comes as a punishment before the (final) appointed term (ajal), after which the person returns to life in this world; this is the case in the following verses:
Then the sāʿiqa seized you {that is, death seized you}. (al-Baqara 2:55)
Here, what is meant is the death that befell the Children of Israel as a punishment for asking Mūsā (peace be upon him) to show them Allah openly.
This is also indicated by the statement of the Exalted Allah: "Then We revived you after your death so that you might give thanks" (al-Baqara 2:56), meaning that Allah brought them back to life on that day after they had died.
Mūsā also became sāʿiq [fell unconscious] {that is, he collapsed to the ground as if dead}. (al-Aʿrāf 7:143)
Then Allah restored him to life; this is what is meant by Allah's statement: "And when he recovered" (al-Aʿrāf 7:143).
2. The word es-Sāʿiqa is used to mean death that comes as a punishment, without the possibility of returning to this world; as in the following verse:
Say, "I warn you of a sāʿiqa like the sāʿiqa that struck ʿĀd and Thamūd" (that is, I warn you with a punishment that descended upon the peoples of ʿĀd and Thamūd, which also included death). (Fussilat 41:13)
A similar statement is found in Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt.
3. Es-Sāʿiqa is used to mean dying by one's appointed term (ajal), without any punishment being involved; as in the following verse:
Those in the heavens and the earth will be sāʿiq {that is, will die}. (al-Zumar 39:68)
4. Es-Sawāʿiq is used in the sense of fire [lightning] that falls or breaks off from the cloud; as in the following verse:
He sends the sawāʿiq (that is, that fire/lightning that falls or breaks off from the sky) and strikes with it whom He wills. (al-Raʿd 13:13)