My father narrated to us. He said: `Ali b. Ibrahim narrated to us from his father from al-Husayn b. Yazid from Isma`il b. Muslim al-Sukuni from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father from his forefathers . He said: `Ali said: There is not a day that comes by a son of Adam except that the day says to him: “O son of Adam! I am a new day, and I am a witness over you. So, say what is good and do what is good, and I will testify for you on the Day of Resurrection; for you will never see me again after it.”

Muhammad b. `Ali narrated to us. He said: My uncle Muhammad b. Abi’l Qasim narrated to me. He said: Harun b. Muslim narrated to us from Mas`ada b. Ziyad from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad form his father from his forefathers . He said: `Ali said: Surely, a Muslim person has three friends: (1) A friend that says to him: “I am with you, alive and dead” – that is his deeds. (2) A friend that says to him: “I am with you until you die” – that is his wealth, for when he dies, it is given in inheritance. (3) A friend that says to him: “I am with you until the gateway of your grave, then I will leave you” – that is his child.

Ja`far b. `Ali al-Kufi narrated to us. He said: al-Hasan b. `Ali b. `Abdullah b. al-Mughira narrated to us from his grandfather `Abdullah b. al-Mughira from Isma`il b. Muslim al-Sakuni from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father from his forefathers . He said: `Ali said: Death is not given its proper due if one considers tomorrow to be his.

Muhammad b. `Ali narrated to us from his uncle Muhammad b. al-Qasim from Harun b. Muslim from Mas`ada b. Sadaqa from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father from his forefathers . Amir al-Mu’minin delivered a sermon in Basra. After praising and commending Allah and blessing the Prophet and his Family, he said: A duration – even if it is prolonged – is short. The past is a lesson for those present. The dead are an exhortation for the living. When yesterday passes, it does not return, and a person from tomorrow is not upon stability – the first is a guide for the middle, and the middle is the leader of the last. Everyone will part from everyone, and everyone will follow everyone. Death will overcome everyone, and the colossal day is coming to everyone. It is the day in which neither wealth nor sons will benefit anyone – only those who meet Allah with a peaceable heart [will be delivered]. Then, he said: O my Shi`a! Be patient upon the deeds whose rewards you will not become needless of, and patiently refrain from the deeds whose punishment you will have no patience for. Surely, we have found that being patient upon the obedience of Allah is easier than being patient upon the punishment of Allah. Know that your time is finite, your hope is amplified, and your breaths are numbered. Your time cannot but end, your hope cannot but be extinguished, and your breaths cannot but be exhausted. Then, his eyes filled up with tears, and he recited: “While you are certainly observed by vigilant, honourable angels recording everything – they know whatever you do.” (82:10-12)

Muhammad b. al-Hasan b. Ahmad b. al-Walid narrated to us. He said: Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar narrated to us from Ibrahim b. Hashim from Isma`il b. Marar from Yunus b. `Abd al-Rahman from Abi Ayyub from Abi Hamza from Abi Ja`far Muhammad b. `Ali al-Baqir . He said: Amir al-Mu’minin said: All goodness is in three actions: sight, silence, and speech. Every sight that is devoid of consideration is negligence. Every silence that is devoid of thought is heedlessness. Every speech that is devoid of the remembrance [of Allah] is prattle. Blessed is he in whose sight is consideration, and in whose silence is thought, and in whose words is remembrance – who cries over his mistakes and from whose evil the people are safe.

Al-Husayn b. Ahmad narrated to us. He said: My father narrated to us. He said: Ibrahim b. Hashim narrated to us from al-Husayn b. Yazid al-Nawfali from Isma`il b. Abi Ziyad al-Sukuni from al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father from his forefathers from `Ali . He said: Take to supplication in five places: (1) When reciting the Quran, (2) When the adhan [is called], (3) When rain falls, (4) When two rows meet for martyrdom, and (5) at the call of the oppressed, for it does not have a barrier under the Throne.

Muhammad b. al-Qasim al-Astarabadi narrated to us. He said: Ahmad b. al-Hasan al-Husayni narrated to us from al-Hasan b. `Ali from his father from Muhammad b. `Ali from his father al-Rida from his father Musa b. Ja`far from his father Ja`far b. Muhammad from his father Muhammad b. `Ali from his father `Ali b. al-Husayn from his father al-Husayn b. `Ali . He said: Amir al-Mu’minin said: How many heedless people weave a robe to wear, when it is actually his shroud; and build a house to live in, when it is actually the place of his grave.

It was said to Amir al-Mu’minin : What does one do to prepare for death? He said: Performing the obligations, avoiding the forbidden, and being generous – then, it will not matter if he approaches death or if death approaches him. By Allah, it does not matter to Ibn Abi Talib whether he approaches death or if death approaches him.

Amir al-Mu’minin said in one of his sermons: O people! Surely, this world is the Abode of Annihilation, and the Hereafter is the Abode of Permanence, so take from your sojourn what will aid you in your lodging. There is no need to disclose your hidden matters to Him from whom you cannot hide your secrets, so take your hearts out of this world before your body is taken out of it. You were enlivened for this world, but you were created for the Hereafter. Surely, this world is like poison: it is eaten by one who knows not what it is. When a servant dies, the angels say: “What has he brought?”, while the people say: “what has he left behind?” Send virtues before you so that they may be for you, and do not leave anything that may be against you. Surely, the deprived is one who is deprived of the goodness of his wealth, who will be envious of one whose scales become heavy with charity and good actions, through which his residence in Paradise is beautified and his trek on the Path is sweetened.

Ahmad b. Muhammad narrated to us. He said: My father narrated to us from Muhammad b. `Abd al-Jabbar from Abi Ahmad Muhammad b. Ziyad al-Azdi from Aban b. `Uthman from Thabit b. Dinar from the Master of Worshipers `Ali b. al-Husayn from the Master of Martyrs al-Husayn b. `Ali from the Master of Deputies Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali b. Abi Talib . He said: The Messenger of Allah (s) said: The Imams after me are twelve. You are the first of them, O `Ali. The last of them is the Qa’im, by whose hands Allah will conquer the East of the Earth and its West.

My father narrated to us. He said: Ahmad b. Idris narrated to us. He said: Ya`qub b. Yazid narrated to us from Muhammad b. Abi `Umayr from Muhammad al-Qubti. He said: al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad said: The people are heedless of what the Messenger of Allah (s) said regarding `Ali b. Abi Talib in the chamber of Umm Ibrahim, just as they are heedless of what he said regarding him on the Day of Ghadir Khumm. The Messenger of Allah (s) was in the chamber of Umm Ibrahim, and his companions were with him, when `Ali came. They did not make way for him. When he saw that they did not make way for him, he said: “O people! These are my Ahl al-Bayt. You trivialize them whilst I am alive and whilst I am among you. Surely, by Allah, when I am away from you, Allah will certainly not be absent from you. Surely, serenity, solace, happiness, and glad tidings are for those who follow `Ali, align with him, and are at peace with him and the deputies from his descendants. It will be my responsibility to bring them into my intercession, for they are my followers, and whoever follows me is surely of me. This is a tradition that has passed through Ibrahim , for I am from Ibrahim and Ibrahim is from me. My virtue is his virtue, and his virtue is my virtue – and I am more virtuous than him. The saying of my Lord confirms that, ‘Offspring, one of the other, and Allah is Hearing, Knowing.’ (3:34)” The Messenger of Allah (s) had injured his leg in the chamber of Umm Ibrahim when the people had come to him.