A good deed is a preparation for its companion in the grave, for a person will not have in his grave a bed, nor a pillow or furniture. Rather every person will have his deeds as his bed and pillow, whether they are good or evil deeds.
So, the intelligent person is the one who prepares his home that he will live in forever. Even if he were to prepare his eternal home by destroying his worldly home that he will shortly leave, he would still be profitable.
Some of the Salaf said, 'Work for this life in relation to how long you will stay in it, and work for the next life in relation to how long you will stay in it,’ Others said, ‘The son of Adam has two homes, a home on the earth, and a home under the earth. So he went to the home on the earth and decorated and beautified it, and made many doors in it on the right and left, and made it comfortable for the winter and summer. Then he went to the home that is under the earth and destroyed it! So if he is asked, 'How long will you stay in the house that you perfected?' He would say, 'I do not know.' But if he was asked, 'How long will you stay in the home that you destroyed?' He woud say, 'Forever!' 'You admit this, and you claim to be a person with intellect and understanding!?’
Al-Bara’ Ibn ‘Azib said, 'We went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) for the funeral of a man from among the Ansar. We came to the grave and when the deceased was placed in the grave, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sat down and we sat around him, as if there were birds on our heads [i.e. very quiet and still]. He (ﷺ) had a stick in his hand, with which he was scratching the ground. Then he (ﷺ) raised his head and said, ‘Seek refuge with Allah from the torment of thegrave!’ two or three times.
Then he (ﷺ) said, 'When the believing slave is about to depart this world and enter the Hereafter, there come down to him from heaven, angels, with white faces like the sun, and they sit around him as far as the eye can see. They bring with them shrouds from Paradise and perfumes from Paradise. Then the Angel of Death comes and sits by his head, and he says, 'O good soul, come forth to forgiveness from Allah and His pleasure.' Then it comes out easily like a drop of water from the mouth of a water skin. When he seizes it, they do not leave it in his hand for an instant before they take it and put it in that shroud with that perfume, and there comes from it a fragrance like the finest musk on the face of the earth. Then they ascend and they do not pass by any group of angels but they say, 'Who is this good soul?' and they say, 'It is So and so the son of So and so,' calling him by the best names by which he was known in this world, until they reach the lowest heaven. They ask for it to be opened to them and it is opened, and the soul is welcomed and accompanied to the next heaven by those who are closest to Allah, until they reach the seventh heaven. Then Allah says, 'Record the book of My slave in ‘Illiyun in the seventh heaven, and return him to the earth, for from it I created them, to it I will return them and from it, I will bring them forth once again.' So his soul is returned to his body.
Then two angels come to him and make him sit up. They ask him, 'Who is your Rabb?' He says, 'Allah.' They ask, 'What is your religion?' He says, 'My religion is Islam.' They ask, 'Who is this man who was sent among you?' He says, 'He is the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)' They ask, 'What did you do?' He says, 'I read the Book of Allah and I believed in it.' Then a voice calls out from heaven, 'My slave has spoken the truth, so prepare for him a bed from Paradise and clothe him from Paradise, and open for him a gate to Paradise.'
Then there comes to him some of its fragrance, and his grave is made wide, as far as he can see. Then there comes to him a man with a handsome face and handsome clothes, and a good fragrance, who says, 'Receive the glad tidings that will bring you joy this day.' He says, 'Who are you? Your face is a face which brings glad tidings.' He says, 'I am your righteous deeds.' He says, 'O my Rabb, hasten the Hour so that I may return to my family and my wealth.'
But when the disbelieving slave is about to depart this world and enter the Hereafter, there come down to him from heaven angels with black faces, bringing sackcloth, arid they sit around him as far as the eye can see. Then the Angel of Death comes and sits by his head, and he says, 'O evil soul, come forth to the wrath of Allah and His anger.'
At hearing this, his soul disperses itself inside his body. The Angel of Death orders the soul to come out. So the soul is unwillingly torn from the body cutting the veins and nerves, like a skewer passing through wet wool. When he seizes it, they do not leave it in his hand for an instant before they snatch it and put it in the sackcloth, and there comes from it, the foulest stench like the worst smell that has ever come from a rotten corpse. Then they ascend and they do not pass by any group of angels except they say to it, 'Who is this evil soul?' and they say, 'It is So and so the son of So and so,' calling him by the worst names by which he was known in this world, until they reach the lowest heaven. They ask for it to be opened to them and it is not opened.’
Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited,
لَا تُفَتَّحُ لَهُمْ اَبْوَابُ السَّمَاۤءِ وَلَا يَدْخُلُوْنَ الْجَنَّةَ حَتّٰى يَلِجَ الْجَمَلُ فِيْ سَمِّ الْخِيَاطِ
'... nor shall they enter Paradise until a camel passes through the eye of a needle....' [QS. Al-A'raf (7):40]
He (ﷺ) said, 'Then Allah says, 'Record the book of My slave in Sijjinin the lowest earth, and return him to the earth, for from it I created them, to it I will return them and from it I will bring them forth once again.' So his soul is cast down.’
Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited the verse,
وَمَنْ يُّشْرِكْ بِاللّٰهِ فَكَاَنَّمَا خَرَّ مِنَ السَّمَاۤءِ فَتَخْطَفُهُ الطَّيْرُ اَوْ تَهْوِيْ بِهِ الرِّيْحُ فِيْ مَكَانٍ سَحِيْقٍ
'... And he who associates with Allah - it is as though he had fallen from the sky and was snatched by the birds or the wind carried him down into a remote place.' [QS. Al-Hajj (22):31]
He (ﷺ) said, 'Then his soul is returned to his body. Then two angels come to him and make him sit up. They ask him, 'Who is your Rabb?' He says, 'Alas, alas! I do not know.' They ask him, ‘What is your religion?' He says, 'Alas, alas! I do not know.' Then a voice calls out from heaven, 'Prepare for him a bed from Hell and clothe him from Hell, and open for him a gate to Hell.' Then there comes to him some of its heat and hot winds, and his grave is constricted and compresses him until his ribs interlock. Then there comes to him a man with an ugly face and ugly clothes, and a foul stench, who says, 'Receive the bad news, this is the day that you were promised.' He says, 'Who are you? Your face is a face which brings disastrous news.' He says, 'I am your evil deeds.' He says, 'O my Rabb, do not let the Hour come, do not let the Hour come.' [Sunan Abi Dawud; Sahih according to Al-Albani]
The righteous deeds of a believer, come to him in his grave in the best form, and give him glad tidings of happiness from Allah, while the disbeliever will be granted the opposite.
The righteous deeds of a believer surround him in his grave, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, he (the dead person) hears the sounds of their shoes when they walk away from his grave. If he was a believer, his prayers would be near his head, and his zakat would be on his right, and his fasting on his left, and his righteous deeds and goodness towards people would be at his feet. He would be attacked from the direction of his head, but the prayer would say, ‘You cannot enter from my direction.'
Then the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned the rest of the deeds would also say the same. He then said about the disbeliever, 'He would be attacked from all these directions, and nothing would be there to protect him, and he will sit there, terrified.' [HR Ibn Hibban, Al-Hakim graded it as Sahih and Adh-Dhahabi agreed with him]
The first penguin stood up and exlaimed, 'O my brothers, turn down this dunya, for it has rejected those who were more enamored by it than you. Take heed from the lessons of those who were before you, before you become a lesson for those who will come after you. This life is intoxicating and enrapturing, and the indwelling chants of mankind’s nature inherendy support it, therefore the lightheadedness of those who drink from it becomes stronger, until the season of profit has passed them by. Thereafter they wake up from their unconsciousness only to prepare for punishment; the feelings of sorrow overwhelming them, though just the reality of all the good, they have missed of the hereafter is a sufficient lash upon them, a fact that they grasp only after death.
Woe to you; death is like clouds, and grey hair is its raindrops. Whoever reaches the age of seventy, would complain of pain even without reason, and so the sensible person is he who wakes up in fear, because he realises the nearness of death.
O you, this life is behind you, and ahead of you is the Hereafter; and to seek what is behind is a retreat and a defeat, whereas victory lies in advancing forward with strongwill.The flood of death has arrived so embark for safety onto the ships of righteousness and do not accompany the “Kan’an” of hope, for Kan'an is the son of Prophet Nuh, 'alayhi as-salam, who drowned in the flood as he hoped to survive if he just get on the top of a mountain.
Woe to you, pay heed and start benefiting yourself from your lifespan, for how long is an earthly creature to live in confusion?
Illnesses distress the bodies necessarily causing emaciation, and you appear as if you are in your grave, lying down on the bed of regret, while it is, by Allah, coarser than a rock. That said, plant good deeds during the spring of your life, before the onset of sterility afflicts the field that is your body, and amass good deeds in your period of capability, setting them aside before the time of weakness and incapability arrives.
Prepare your supplies before travelling so you do not suffer poverty during the journey where there is no food to consume. Beware, beware, of being in a state where you will be among those whom Allah said they will say on the Day of Judgment.
The wise and determined is he who acquires his provision of good deeds before the time of his return to his Rabb comes. The root of the tree of strongwill and firmness is wise and has perceptive thinking, its branches are seeking the advice over problematic issues, and its fruit is taking advantage of available opportunities, and the loss of opportunity in itself is sufficient cause of regret.'
