In the Name of All{h, the Source of General Mercy to all of Humanity, the Source of Specific Grace to the Believers

Topic of Discussion: The Angel of Death Visits Every

Single House Five Times a Day
âad|th 53 · Discussion 66
Lectures on Akhl{q [Isl{mic Ethics and Spirituality] Delivered by
his Eminence Ñyatull{h al-`UÉm{ al-H{jj Shaykh N{Äir Mak{rim Sh|r{z|

Translated by Saleem Bhimji

for Al-FatÅ Al-Mub|n Publications [www.al
www.al-
www.al-mubin.org]
mubin.org and Isl{mic Publishing House [www.iph.ca
www.iph.ca]
www.iph.ca

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Translation of the âad|th:

Zuhri has narrated from Anas ibne M°lik that he said “I heard the Messenger of All{h
say, “There is not a single house except that the
Angel of Death goes to it five times a day. So then if the lives of any of the people of that house or those who are within that house are
written to come to an end, then he brings death upon that person. When the agonies and tribulations of death clothe the entire presence of
the person; the screams and voices of the people of the house rise up; the people start to pull at their hair; they start to hit their head and
face and cry, and at this time, the Angel of Death says, ‘Fie be upon you! For what thing are you showing anger and fear for? I swear by
Ethical Discourse # 66– Page 1 of 3
All{h! I have not taken anyone’s wealth; I have not brought his appointed time any closer and I have not come towards you without
permission (from All{h). Rather, I am taking the soul by the permission of someone else (All{h). Surely I will continuously come to this
house until not a single person remains here.”

At this point, the Prophet
said, “I swear by the one who holds my life and soul in His hands, if you were to see the station where the
Angel of Death is standing in the house, and you were to hear his words, you would surely forget the one who has passed away (from your
house). Rather, you would shed tears for yourself! As this dead person is being carried in his casket, the spirit of the deceased stays above
the casket, crying out, ‘O’ my family1 O’ my children! Do not let this transient world play with you as it played with me in which I collected
(the wealth) both from the permissible and also the impermissible sources and then left it for others behind me (to inherit). May felicity and
delight be for them (who have inherited that wealth), however, a responsibility still remains upon my shoulders. Be careful for that which has
come upon me that it comes upon you too.” 1 and 2

Explanation of the âad|th:

I
n this Åad|th, the advice given by the Angel of Death and the words of guidance given by the dead person to those who have remained
after him has been mentioned. In the aÅ{d|th, this theme has been constantly repeated that the person with intelligence and the one who
is fortunate is the one who constantly remembers death. By constantly remembering death, a majority of our troubles can be alleviated
since 99% of our grief is related to issues of this transient world.

We never show grief or anguish as to why we did not wake up to perform àal{tul La|l last night, or why were did not succeed in a specific
form of obedience to the laws of All{h i or why we performed such and such sin. No way and never do we ever have grief over things like
this!

1
BiÅ{rul Anw{r, Volume 74, Page 188

2
It has been related that during the time of Ban| Isr{`|l, one of the Prophets passed by a graveyard. His companions said to him, “O’
Prophet of All{h! We want All{h i to raise up to life one of these dead people so that we can ask him about how his life was taken and to
also inform us of the questions asked by the two Angels - Nak¢r and Munkar.”

This Prophet of All{h rose his hands up in supplication and after his own prayer, at which time his entire body turned black in color – a
person came out of the grave and in a clear and eloquent voice said, “O’ people of this transient world! I died 90 years ago and still the
bitterness of the experience of death has not left me! Therefore O you who are still alive, do not fall into a state of negligence and keep
aware of the permissible and the impermissible and know the truth and the falsehood since at this point (when you are dead), having grief
(over these things) will be of no benefit to you. Work day and night for your next life and prepare your supplies for that next life since no
one will come after you (to give these things to you). You should know that all of you shall taste the drink of death.”

The Prophet of All{h  said to this man, “O’ dead man! How were your actions while in this world?”

The man replied, “O’ Messenger of All{h! I was a person of the transient world (I worshipped this world) and I had love for this transient
world and was always voraciously busy in collecting the wealth of this world although I also heard that in the next life that there will be such
and such punishments. Sha|Ç{n the accursed took me away from the right path and made the material world beautiful in my eyes. Whatever
I managed to gather and collect, I left for those who inherited from me and thus, I came into this next world with empty hands. That wealth
which I had became my trouble and now my inheritors are eating this wealth and are not remembering me at all. Thus since today you still
have the opportunity, you should not fall into a state of negligence and should ask forgiveness for your sins and must remove the love of
station and rank of this transient world from your hearts, since when you reach to that life (the next life), the remorse and regret will be of no
value. The Angel of Death takes the life of those people who have a love for this transient world in such a way that it feels as if all of the
veins of the body become disconnected from one another and this pain is felt in the parts of the body. At this point in time, the sinner will
cry out from the depths of his soul and will say, “


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“Lest a soul should say: O woe to me! for what I fell short of my duty to All{h…”2 (Kuliy{t-e-Jami` al-Tamth|l, Page 222)
Ethical Discourse # 66– Page 2 of 3
When a person remembers death, then he brings to light that the end of all people is death and surely that thing whose outcome is this
(death) should have absolutely no grief or remorse attached to it!

We must really look at the end of the lives of those who came before us. Sometimes when we pass by the alleys and markets, we see weak,
old men and old women walking around with walking sticks – they are walking around with great difficulty – or they are holding on to
someone and walking around. In the end, this is the outcome of all of us. There was once a time when they too were young and full of
energy, however look at them now – what state are they in - see what the new day has brought them.

I remember seeing one of the great scholars of Yazd who was living in Qum – just in the beginning when I first came to the city of Qum. He
was one of the well-known scholars of the âawzah. Just recently, I met him again in one of the alleyways in Qum and asked him, “How are
you doing?” He replied to me, “What can I do – neither have I died and left this world nor am I alive in this world. I am stuck between this
world and the next world. All of my power of the intellect have gone – I can not even move on my own and in this state, I am in waiting for
death to come to me.”

It has not always been like this, and this sort of an outcome is not only limited to this individual, rather death is a beast which is lying in wait
at the door of every house. There are some people who die while old while others leave this world in their youth.

It is through remembering death which really trains a person. If there was no death, then truly it would be very difficult to live. Rather, death
is one of the grand Divine Blessings from All{h i.

Thus, for this few days while we live in this transient world, we see what kinds of tumult and clamour is raised up! Imagine if a person was to
live for eternity what the state of this world would be?

…and all praise belongs to All{h i – only the mistakes are mine.

Ethical Discourse # 66– Page 3 of 3