221 – Abū Jaʿfar al-Qurashī, one of Banū Hāshim, told me: “A man from Talḥan once set out and, passing by the cemetery of Basra, was walking among the graves when he came upon a tomb on which was inscribed:

O heart grown heedless of remembering death,
before long you will lodge among the dead.

Recall the spot that shall one day be yours before you reach it,
and repent to Allah of frivolity and delights.

For death has a fixed hour and an appointed term;
remember the calamities of days and fleeting moments. ⦗175⦘

Put no trust in this world and its adornment;
the time has come, O man of sound reason, for death to arrive.”