Then he said:
“Truly, this world has already turned its back and departed, while the Hereafter has come (1) advancing toward you. Each of the two has its children; so be children of the Hereafter and do not be children of this world. Indeed, those who are detached from the world have taken the earth as their carpet, dust as their bedding, and water as their perfume. Whoever yearns for the Hereafter lets go of cravings; whoever fears the Fire abandons the forbidden; whoever seeks the Garden hastens to acts of obedience; and whoever renounces the world finds afflictions easy to bear (2).
“Know that Allah has servants who seem to have beheld the people of Paradise abiding therein forever (3) and the people of the Fire enduring torment. Their evil is kept in check, their hearts are sorrowful, their souls are chaste, and their needs are few. They endured a handful of days for the sake of an everlasting repose. By night they stand, feet aligned, tears running down their cheeks as they cry out to Allah to free their necks (4). By day they go about thirsty—wise, righteous, devout—like polished arrows; whoever looks at them thinks them ill, though no sickness afflicts them, or thinks them deranged, yet a tremendous matter has indeed possessed them.
Al-Aṣbagh ibn Nubātah reported: ʿAlī once mounted the pulpit, praised Allah, extolled Him, and spoke of death, saying, “O servant of Allah, there is no escaping death. If you remain, it will seize you; if you flee, it will catch you. So save yourselves, save yourselves! Make haste, make haste! (5) Behind you is a relentless pursuer—the grave. Beware its constriction, its darkness, and its desolation (6). Verily, the grave is either a pit from the pits of Hell or a garden from the gardens of Paradise.
“It speaks every day three times, saying, ‘I am the house of darkness, I am the house of worms, I am the house of loneliness.’ Beyond that lies a Day when the hair of the child will turn grey and the elder will reel: ‘Every nursing mother will abandon what she nurses, and you will see the people as though drunk, yet they are not drunk; rather, the punishment of Allah is severe’ (al-Ḥajj 22:2). Beyond that is something even more dreadful: a Fire whose heat is fierce, whose depth is vast, whose ornaments and clubs are iron, whose drink is scalding pus, and whose keeper is Malik—within it there is no mercy from Allah.”
He spoke these words, then he wept, and the Muslims around him wept as well. Then he said, “Beyond that is a Garden whose breadth is the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing. May Allah make us and you among the God-fearing and protect us and you from the painful punishment.”
Layth ibn Abī Sulaym narrated it from Mujāhid, who said, “Someone who heard ʿAlī related it to me,” and he mentioned something similar.
Wakīʿ reported, from ʿUmar ibn Munabbih, from Awfā ibn Dilham, that ʿAlī delivered a sermon and said: “To proceed: the world has turned its back and announced its departure, while the Hereafter has advanced and already peeked forth. Today is the training ground, and tomorrow is the race. You are living in days of hope, behind which lies a fixed term; whoever falls short during the days of his hope before his appointed time arrives has failed in his deeds (7). Behold!”