889 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; my father narrated to us; ʿAbd Allah ibn Yazīd narrated to us; Saʿīd narrated to us; and ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Walīd narrated: I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥujayrah relate from his father, from Ibn Masʿūd, that whenever Ibn Masʿūd sat down—meaning, whenever he began to address the people—he would say:

“You are passing through the succession of night and day while your appointed lifespans are steadily diminishing and your deeds are being carefully recorded, and death comes without warning. Whoever sows good will soon reap it with hopeful eagerness, and whoever sows evil will soon harvest regret. Every cultivator shall receive the like of what he has sown: the slow will not outstrip what has been allotted to him, nor will the eager attain what has not been decreed for him. Whoever is granted good, it is Allah who has granted it; and whoever is protected from evil, it is Allah who has protected him. The God-fearing are the nobles, the jurists are the leaders, and their gatherings are a means of increase.”