If “death” is still taken in its ordinary sense, why is “claws” attached to it? The word is not ornamental surplus. It marks the predator-image through which death’s overwhelming power is expressed.
إضافة نحو الأظفار قرينة التشبيه المضمر
An attribution such as “claws” serves as a clue to an implicit comparison.
A link is thus established between the associated feature and the contextual clue. Removing that clue can weaken the sign of the implicit comparison; naming the predator overtly would change the construction’s form.