Chapter X: Remembrance of Death
The reason of this good is that remembrance of death keeps him far away from this world of deception and compels him to prepare for the next world. The Prophet said : The gift of a believer is death. The reason is that the world is a prison for the believer as he lives here in difficulties and wants, control his passions and drives away the devil, so death gives him relief from this punishment. The Prophet said : Death expiates the sins of every Muslim. He meant such a believer from who«e tongue and hands other Muslims remain safe, who is repository of the character and conduct of a believer and whose mind is not polluted with sins other than minor sins. The Prophet said : Remember death too much as it obliterates sins and makes you God-fearing in this world. Once the Prophet came out towards the mosque, on the way he found some people engaged in cutting jokes and telling stories. He said to them : Remember death. Beware by One in whose hand there is my life, had you known what I known, you would have laughed little and wept much. Hazrat Ibn Omar said : I along with ten other companions were near the Messenger of God. Then an Ansari asked him: O Prophet of God who is the wisest and honoured of men? He said : Those who remember death most and prepare most for it. They pass away with this honour in the world and the next.
Saying of sages. Caliph Omar-bin-Abdul Aziz gathered together every night the learned men and heard from them of death, resurrection and next world. The saint Ibrahim Taimer said : Two things robbed men of the pleasures of this world-thought of death and fear of standing before God. The saint Ashas said : Whenever we went to the great saint Hasan Basari, he used to talk with us about death, hell and the next world. Once a man complained of his hardness of heart to Hazrat Ayesha. She said : Remember death most, your mind will become soft. He obeyed this and his mind became soft. When death was talked of before Jesus Christ, blood flowed within his veins. When talks of death were held before David, he wept so much that his hairs stood on end. When God's grace was talked of, he returned to his previous condition. The saint Hasan Basari said : I found no wise man who did not become sad for fear of death.
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Caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz once said to a sage : Give me admonition. He said : Nobody from Adam down to your father was safe from death. Now your turn has come. At this Hazrat Omar began to weep. The great saint Rabi-bin-Asem dug a grave within his house. He used to sleep there daily several times. This reminded him of death. He said : If the remembrance of death goes out of my mind even for an hour, my mind becomes polluted.
MODE OF THINKING OF DEATH