Remembering Death and the Grave — Hadith 1

1. Al-Ḥusayn ibn Saʿīd narrated to us [saying], “Faḍālah ibn Ayyūb narrated to us from Saʿdān al-Wāsiṭī, from ʿAjlān Abī Ṣāliḥ who said, ‘Abū ʿAbdillāh said [to me], “O Abā Ṣāliḥ, when a [funeral] bier is lifted, imagine that it is you who is being carried [upon it], or that you are the one asking your Lord to return you to the world so that you may do good deeds, and see then what you will resume [of your actions]. ” Then he said, “How astounding it is for a community whose former members have been confined away [in their graves] from their latter ones [who are alive], then a caller calls out among them for departure [from this world] while they are [busy] playing! ”’”