495 – Muḥammad ibn Idrīs narrated to us; Ibn Abī Laylā narrated to us; Mūsā Abū Muḥammad al-Madanī, the client of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, narrated; from Khālid ibn Yazīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from his father, from his grandfather, that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib said in one of his sermons:

“I counsel you to fear Allah and to turn away from this world that is turning away from you, even though you are reluctant to leave it; a world that wears out your bodies, even though you wish to restore them. Your condition in relation to it is like that of travellers who have set out on a road: it is as though they have already crossed it; or like people who have drawn near to a way-marker: it is as though they have already reached it. How long can a runner keep running before he reaches the finish line? And how much time remains for someone who still has a day left in this life when an eager pursuer is chasing him until he departs from it?

So do not despair over its hardship and distress, for they are bound to come to an end; and do not exult in its comforts, for they are destined to vanish. I am amazed at one who chases after the world while death is chasing after him, and at a heedless person who is not being overlooked.”