In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Remember Death (In the Light of Hadith)

It is narrated from Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Remember frequently the destroyer of pleasures — that is, death.” (Jami‘ al-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Nasa’i, Sunan Ibn Majah)

It is said that a man developed a friendship with ‘Azra’il عليه السلام (the Angel of Death). He requested him: “When you are to come to take my soul, inform me one year in advance so that I may prepare for death.” ‘Azra’il عليه السلام agreed.

But one day he arrived suddenly with the divine command. Seeing him unexpectedly, the man was astonished and said: “You had promised to inform me a year earlier, yet you have come all of a sudden.”

‘Azra’il عليه السلام replied: “Throughout this year, I visited such-and-such of your loved ones, such-and-such of your relatives, and such-and-such of your friends. I came repeatedly only to remind you that I would soon come to you as well. I assumed you were intelligent and perceptive enough to understand. If you were so heedless and foolish that you did not comprehend, then how is that my fault?”

As life passes, hopes grow stronger. A person exhausts himself day and night in pursuit of his desires. Life begins to appear exceedingly beautiful and attractive. One spends eighteen to twenty hours constantly engaged in work. With the passage of time, grey hairs begin to appear. The river of time continues to flow through successes, failures, joys, and sorrows. Gradually fatigue sets in. Old age begins to knock at the door of death. Yet the heedless person continues to move along the highway of life as before, thinking there is still plenty of time.

The pursuit of long ambitions, extended hopes, and elaborate plans continues endlessly. Dollars, riyals, dinars, rupees, plots, flats, factories, houses, and cars — life passes in chasing these things. Days and nights are spent striving for a higher standard of living. Deaths occur among relatives and loved ones around him, one after another. The person offers condolences and then once again becomes absorbed in the hustle of life, without finding the time to reflect that the Angel of Death has left a message for him as well. The writing on the wall is before his eyes, yet the attractions of life do not allow him to read it.

When the Angel of Death finally stands over him, suddenly he realizes that sixty or seventy years of life passed in the blink of an eye. Childhood seems like yesterday, and youth appears no more than a beautiful dream. There was never even time to take account of what was gained and what was lost… such a long… yet such a short life.

O heedless one! The clock proclaims this call:
The heavens have diminished yet another portion of your lifespan.