Saying of Imam Ahmadur Rifaa`iyy
The great Imam Ahamdur Rifaa`iyy, may Allah raise his rank, advised one of his students and said:
O my son, if you possess real intellect you would never turn towards this Life even if it turns towards you, because it is deceitful, a liar and misleads its followers.
The one who turns away from it is saved from it and the one who turns towards it is inflicted with what it has.
It is like a serpent, soft when touched but deadly is its poison.
Its pleasure vanishes fast and its days pass like a shadow.
Keep yourself busy by fearing Allah and do not ignore remembering Allah, the Exalted.
O my son, when you learn and hear an authentic quote apply it and don’t be like those who learn and do not apply.
One wonders of those who know that they will die, yet they forget death.
One wonders of those who know they are departing this life, yet they throw themselves on it and pass their days embracing it.
You wasted time by amusement and forgetfulness.
You dissipated the days and nights by thoughtlessness and disobedience.
Your joke is like those who have secured against regret and your entertainment is like those who did not hear about the Day of Judgment.
As if you do not look at the graves and do not consider those who inhabited them.
O my son, what you ate, you wiped out and what you wore, you torn.
To be resurrected by Allah is a definite matter and preordained and to depart the beloved is coming as it was promised.
This Life’s begins by weakness and sluggishness and ends by death and graves.
