weak human! Before you reach me, have mercy upon yourself during this worldly life! Indeed, when you come to me, if you are obedient to your Lord, I will have mercy upon you, and you will find comfort within me. But if you did not show mercy to yourself, then I too will not show mercy to you.

O weak human! I am the home of worms and insects, and along with that, a place of long-lasting humiliation. I am the home of loneliness and isolation, and along with that, of hardship and severity. I am the home of thirst, and along with that, of dreadful darkness. I am the home of constriction, and along with that, of terrifying scorpions. O son of Adam! Beware! Do not let the life of this world deceive you. Surely, you must come to me! I am the first stage among the stages of the Hereafter. If you are saved from me, then you will be saved from every terrifying stage thereafter. O son of Adam! I am a place of wrath; I have no pity on a young person's youth, on a child's childhood, or on an elder's old age. Indeed, I show no mercy to the one who did not have mercy upon himself.”^[1]

The Anonymous Adviser

Sayyiduna Salmah Basriرَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه  narrated: Once, a man was passing by and saw a grave that had been built with great beauty and decoration. He admired its design (the beautiful tiles fitted above, etc.) and stood there gazing at it in amazement.

That night, when he slept, he saw a person in his dream who recited the following Arabic verses as a form of advice:

اَعْجَبَکَ الْقَبْرُ وَ حُسْنُ الْبِنَاءِ                                                                         وَ الْجِسْمُ فِیْہِ قَدْ حَوَاہٗ الْبَلٰي

فَاسْئَالِ الْاَمْوَات عَنْ حَالِہِمْ                                                                     یَنْبَاکَ عَنْ ذَالِکَ ذِہَابَ الْجَلٰي

Explanation: “You were amazed by the beauty and structure of the grave, while afflictions and calamities surround the body inside. Ask the dead about their condition, they will tell you where all their honour and glory have gone.”^[2]