Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
Kumail bin Ziyaad (rahimahullah) reports the following:
On one occasion, I accompanied Hazrat Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) as he came out from the city of Kufah and proceeded towards Jabbaan (the outskirts of the city of Kufah). On coming to Jabbaan, Hazrat Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) turned towards the cemetery and called out, “O inhabitants of the graves! O people whose bodies have decomposed! O people of loneliness! What is your condition? Our condition (here in the world) is that the estates of the deceased have been wound up and distributed, the children of the deceased have been orphaned and the spouses of the deceased have now remarried! This is our condition, so inform us regarding your condition (in the graves)?”
Hazrat Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then turned to me and said, “O Kumail! If the inhabitants of these graves were permitted by Allah Ta‘ala to respond to our call, they would say, “The best provision (for the Hereafter) is the provision of taqwa.”
Hazrat Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then began to weep and said, “O Kumail! The grave, in reality, is a box which contains a person’s actions. It is only at the time of death that one will find out what actions he has sent forward and are lying waiting for him in his grave (i.e. one’s condition in one’s grave – of either punishment or comfort – will be determined by the actions he will take with him to the next world).” (Taareekh Dimashq 50/251)
