254 – Ibn Idris narrated to us; Abu Zakariyya al-Taymi reported: While Sulayman ibn ʿAbd al-Malik was sitting in the Sacred Mosque, a carved stone was brought to him. He asked for someone who could read it, so Wahb ibn Munabbih was summoned. He read the inscription, which said:

“O son of Adam, were you to perceive how little of your appointed term is left, you would become indifferent to the length of your life, long to add to your righteous deeds, and curb your greed and attachment to this world. Tomorrow, only your remorse will confront you if your foot should slip and your family and retainers abandon you; the beloved child will part from you, and parent and kinsman alike will cast you off. You will neither return to your worldly life nor be able to increase your good deeds. Therefore work for the Day of Resurrection before regret and sorrow overtake you.”

When Sulayman heard this, he wept.