256 – He said: “I heard a man from the tribe of Rabiʿah relate: ‘We set out with the people of al-Jazīrah against an enemy. When we had marched deep into their territory, we found a stone on the edge of the camp bearing an inscription in Greek. I searched for someone who could read it, found a man, and he recited:

I rue what I once did—how bitter my remorse;
whoever follows the soul’s desires will surely regret.
Do you not know that the Reckoning stands before you,
and that behind you pursues a hunter who never tires?
So fear (God) that you may be secure when death has passed,
and meet a just Lord who never wrongs.
For the one beguiled by his worldly life there is no rest;
he will repent the moment his sandal slips—so take heed.’”