860 — Al-Firyābī narrated to us, saying: Ahmad ibn Sinān narrated to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us, saying: Mustalim ibn Saīd informed us, saying: Yalā ibn Atā informed us, saying:

A man came to Abu al-Dardā and said to him, “You are a learned man, and you are on the verge of departing this world. Teach me something good through which Allah may benefit me.” Abu al-Dardā replied:

“If nothing else, then take this to heart: How will you fare when all you have of the earth is a space four cubits by ⦗1291⦘ two cubits? Your family, who once hated to part with you, and your brethren, who used to rally to your support, will bring you there and lay you down in that grave. They will then seal you in with mud bricks, heap earth over you, and leave you alone where they laid you. Two blue-eyed, curly-haired angels named Munkar and Nakīr will come to you and ask, ‘Who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is your Prophet?’ If you reply, ‘My Lord is Allah, my religion is Islam, and my Prophet is Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him,’ then, by Allah, you will have been guided and saved. But if you reply, ‘I do not know,’ then, by Allah, you will have fallen and perished.”