510 – Muhammad ibn al-Husayn narrated to us; ‘Isa ibn Maymun, Abū ‘Amr al-Najdī, conveyed it; he said: I heard Ṣāliḥ al-Murri say during his exhortation, “And how can the eye of one who truly knows this world ⦗220⦘ ever find ease in it?” He then wept and added, “We are the successors of those who have departed, the last remnant of the early generations. Relocate your souls from it before the final departure, for the decree will descend before long.” He wept again, and Abū Ja‘far al-Qurashī recited to me:

We stand on the rampart of this fleeting abode;
At dusk or at dawn we shall be driven away.
We weep and lament the marks of those long gone,
And soon will other footprints follow those footprints.

Long have we fashioned this world on borrowed time,
While knowing full well we are no true builders here.
O you who are hurried on toward a sudden departure—
Your final stop is nothing but Paradise or the Fire.

So choose for yourself, while death has not yet come;
Tomorrow you may triumph, while every other choice ends in woe.
Leave the world’s vainglory and its gaudy display;
The Day of Resurrection is the day of real glory—and of disgrace.

Abū Ja‘far al-Qurashī also recited:

Is the furthest reach of this world, even if you attain it,
Anything but the dust of a grave and its narrow trench?
So work for what you hope for—what truly endures—
While the rope of respite is still stretched out for you.