315 – ʿAlī ibn Abī Maryam narrated to us, from Abū Masʿūd al-Qattāt, who said: Ibn al-Sammāk declared:

“This entire worldly life—from its first moment to its last—is but a small thing. What is left of it, compared with what has already passed, is small. Your own portion of it is small, and of that small portion only a small part remains. This morning you stand in the house of buying and the house of ransom, but tomorrow you will be in the house of requital and the house of permanence. Therefore purchase your soul today and ransom it with every effort you can muster; perhaps you will be spared the punishment of your Lord.”