218 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: al-Ḥasan b. Maḥjūb b. Abī Umayyah narrated to me; he said: Abū Tawbah al-Rabīʿ al-Kindī narrated to us; he said: Abū Rabīʿah ʿAbd Allah b. ʿUbayd b. ʿAdīy b. ʿAdīy al-Kindī narrated to us, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:

ʿUmar b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz wrote to one of his governors:

“To proceed: It is as though the servants have now returned to Allah, and He will inform them of what they have done, so that He may reward those who did evil according to what they did and reward those who did good with the very best. There is no overturning His judgment, no disputing His command, and no withholding the right He has entrusted to His servants and charged them to uphold.

I therefore counsel you to have taqwā (God-consciousness) and urge you to show gratitude for the favors He has fashioned for you and the honor He has bestowed upon you. His blessings are extended by thankfulness and cut off by ingratitude.

Remember death often, for you do not know when it will overtake you; there is no escape and no evasion. Remember frequently the Day of Resurrection and its severity, for such remembrance will move you to renounce what you should renounce of this world and to desire what you should desire of the hereafter.

Remain apprehensive regarding whatever portion of the world you have been given, for whoever neither fears nor dreads it will soon be struck down in his heedlessness. Examine your deeds in this life in light of what you have been commanded, then confine yourself to that, for—by my life—there is in it occupation enough to distract you from worldly pursuits. You will never attain knowledge until you prefer it to ignorance, nor attain truth until you repel falsehood.

We ask Allah for you and for ourselves the finest of His assistance, ⦗108⦘ and that He repel from us and from you, by His mercy, with the best of His protection.”