Chapter: Delivering an Exhortation at the Grave

945 – ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: We were attending a funeral in Baqīʿ al-Gharqad when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to us. He sat down and we sat around him. In his hand was a small stick; he lowered his head and began to prod the ground with it. Then he said, “There is none among you but that his seat in the Fire and his seat in Paradise have already been recorded.” They asked, “Messenger of Allah, should we not then rely on what has been written for us?” He replied, “Act, for every person will find it easy to do that for which he was created.” He went on to mention the remainder of the ḥadīth. Agreed upon.

[Explanation]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—entitles this section of Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, “Delivering an Exhortation at the Grave.” An exhortation (mawʿiẓa) is a reminder that softens hearts, either by urging toward good or by warning against evil; that is its essence. The greatest, finest, and most beneficial preacher for the heart is the Noble Qur’an, as Allah Most High says: “O mankind, there has come to you an admonition from your Lord, a healing for what is in the breasts, and guidance and mercy for the believers” [10:57]. Thus the Qur’an, for anyone who possesses a heart or attentively lends an ear while truly present, is the supreme exhorter—yet the hearts of most