Instructions to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, upon appointment as the governor of Egypt

Nahj al-Balāgha|Volume 1|Book 2|Chapter 27

Nahj al-Balāgha

Book 2, Chapter 27

Instructions to Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, upon appointment as the governor of Egypt

Hadith #111

وَأَنْتُمْ طُرَدَاءُ الْمَوْتِ، إِنْ أَقَمْتُمْ لَهُ أَخْذَكُمْ، وَإِنْ فَرَرْتُمْ مِنْهُ أَدْرَككُمْ، وَهُوَ أَلْزَمُ لَكُمْ مِنْ ظِلِّكُمْ، الْمَوْتُ مَعْقُودٌ بِنَوَاصِيكُمْ، وَالدُّنْيَا تُطْوَى مِنْ خَلْفِكُمْ. فَاحْذَرُوا نَاراً قَعْرُهَا بَعِيدٌ، وَحَرُّهَا شَدِيدٌ، وَعَذَابُهَا جَدِيدٌ، دَارٌ لَيْسَ فِيها رَحْمَةٌ، وَلَا تُسْمَعُ فِيهَا دَعْوَةٌ، وَلَا تُفَرَّجُ فِيهَا كُرْبَهٌ.

You are being chased by death. If you stop, it will catch you, and if you run away from it, it will grip you. It is more attached to you than your reflection. Death is tied to your fore-locks while the world is being wrapped up from behind you. Therefore, fear the Fire whose hollow is deep, whose flames are severe and whose punishment is novel. It is a place wherein there is no mercy. No call is heard in it. No pain is healed in it.