٩٩. وَسَمِعَ رَجُلًا يَقُولُ (إِنَّا لِلهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ). فَقَالَ: إِنَّ قَوْلَنَا إِنَّا لِلهِ إِقْرَارٌ عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا بِالْمُلْكِ وَقَوْلَنَا وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ إِقْرَارٌ عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا بِالْهُلْكِ.

99. Amīr al-mu’minīn, peace be upon him, heard a man recite: Verily we are Allāh’s and verily to Him shall we return (Qur’ān, 2:156). Then he said: Our saying “innā lillāh” (Verily we are Allāh’s) is an admission of His Majesty over us and our saying “wa innā ilayhī raji‘un” (and verily to Him shall we return) is an admission of our being mortal.

Nahj al-Balāgha

Chapter #99