Chapter X: Remembrance of Death
Calm attitude: The Prophet said : Look to the dying man with his three conditions. When perspiration comes out on his forehead, when his eyes shed tears and when his lips become dry, the blessings of God are poured upon him. When his throat gives out gurgling sound, his colour becomes red, his lips become mud- coloured, the punishment of God befalls on him. The Prophet said : Teach your dying man to recite "There is no deity but God" because it obliterates sins. The Prophet said : He who knows'at the time of death that there is no deity but God. will enter Paradise. Hazrat Osman said : When death comes to a man, teach him, 'there is no deity but God,' as he who dies reciting this Kalema will enter paradise. Hazrat Omar said : Be present before your dying men and remind them of Allah's names, because they see what you do not see and teach them that ' there is no deity but God.' The Prophet said : The angel of death came to a dying man and found nothing in his heart. Then he pierced his tongue and found in a corner that it recites 'there is no deity but Allah.' God forgave him for this. The object of this utterance is that at the time of death, that there should be no thought in his mind except the thought of God, and no goal in his mind except the goal to meet with Him.
TO HAVE GOOD THOUGHTS ABOUT GOD
The Prophet said : God says : I am with My servant who harbour good thoughts about Me. Once the people went to a dying man and said : How are you? He said : I hope to get God's mercy and I fear sins. The Prophet said : God gives the man who harbours these two thoughts at this time what he wishes and keeps him safe from what he fears. The great saint Sabet Bonani said : A young man was addicted to pleasure. His mother used to give him advice and said : O my darling, remember the inevitable hour which will come to you one day. When death came to him his mother fell upon him and said : O my darling I warned you repeatedly of this catastrophe. He said : O mother, my Lord is merciful. I hope that He will show me something of His mercy
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today. The saint Sabet said : Owing to his good conjecture about God, He showed him mercy. The saint Jaber said that a young man was conceited. When death came to him, his mother said to him : O my darling, give me some admonition. He said : I am giving, don't go with my ring as there is the name of God therein. Perchance Allah will show mercy on me for that. When he was buried. Jaber dreamt him and he said : Infof m my martyr that the Kalema has done me benefit and God has forgiven me. Once a desert Beduin fell ill He was told that he would die. He said : Where shall I be taken? The said : To God. He said : I am not unwilling to go to Him. He will surely do me good.
GRIEF AT THE TIME OF MEETING WITH ANGEL OF DEATH