Israfel is angel that sings and charms mortals and celestial beings alike. Poe's narrator--based on a previous poem in the Koran--sings their own song about how beautiful is the music, but then realizes the inherent differences between the world of the divines and the world of the mortals. Even sunshine in one world by default is sweeter than the other. Therefore, if the narrator sang in the heavens and Israfel became mortal, the narrator would be cherished for song and Israfel would be little more than a singing admirer. At least, that's my gist of it.

It's an interesting poem. I like how the narrator has that moment of backing up from infatuation and realizing that perhaps it's not the singer but the power of the world they inhabit or the power granted by inhabiting that world that makes one divine. It's a philosophy that one could apply to other religious contexts and get new interpretations, or even apply it to mundane admiration like celebrities. ( )