Prophet Ya’qub (as) said to the Angel of Death, “I need something from you.”

The Angel of Death asked him what he wanted.

Ya’qub (as) said, “That you inform me when my term comes to an end, when the time comes for you to capture my soul.”

The Angel of Death said, “I will send two or three emissaries to you.”

When Ya’qub’s (as) term came to its end, the Angel of Death came to Ya’qub (as) who asked, “Have you come to visit or capture my soul?”

The Angel of Death said, “To capture your soul.”

Ya’qub (as) said, “Did you not tell me that you will send two or three emissaries?”

The Angel of Death answered him, ” Yes, and I did: The white hairs you have that used to be black, the weakness in your body after it was strong, and your back becoming bent after it was straight.  These are my emissaries, O Ya’qub, to the children of Adam, before death.”

Irshadu Al-‘Ibad lil-Isti’dadi li-Yaumi Al-Ma’ad, by Abdul Aziz As-Salman, p. 7

(Read on pg 60, Abdul-Malik bin Muhammad ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Qasim, Silent Moments: The Description of Before & After Death Aspects. Darussalam Publishers. Riyadh:2004.)

Note: It is not the rule that one must show signs of aging before death, for verily death can come at anytime, even during childhood.