Things that Believers and Unbelievers See in Dying Conditions

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), once said, ‘O ‘Uqbah, Allah, on the Day of Judgment, will not accept anything other than what you believe in (following Ahl al-Bayt). No other thing stands between anyone of you, and the delight of the hearts, other than the time when one’s soul reaches this’ ( He (the Imam) pointed his hand toward his jugular vein). He then leaned against a pillow. Mu‘alla’ was with me and he made a gesture to ask the Imam more questions. I then said, ‘O child of the Messenger of Allah, when the soul reaches here, then what is it that the patient sees?’ I said it about ten times, ‘What?’ Every time he replied, ‘He sees’ and would not add anything more. At last he sat straight and said, ‘O ‘Uqbah.’ I replied, ‘Yes, here I am paying full attention.’ He said, ‘Is it necessary for you to know?’ I said, ‘Yes, O child of the Messenger of Allah, I must know. My religion is with your religion. If my religion is gone, how can I then live every hour?’ I wept and he sympathized and said, ‘He will see both of them.’ I then asked, ‘May Allah keep my soul in the service of your cause, who are the two of them?’ He replied, ‘The two are the Messenger of Allah and Ali, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, O ‘Uqbah, there is never a believing soul who does not see them.’ I then asked, ‘When a believing person sees them, does he then come back to the worldly life?’ He replied, ‘No, but he moves forward, when he sees them he moves forward.’ I then asked, ‘Do they say anything?’ He replied, ‘Yes, they both come to the believing person. The Messenger of Allah sits near his head and Ali near his feet. The Messenger of Allah leans over him and says, “O friend of Allah, good news for you. I am the Messenger of Allah and I am better for you than all that you have left in the world.” The Messenger of Allah then stands up and Ali (a.s.), leans over him saying, “O friend of Allah, good news for you. I am Ali, ibn abu Talib, whom you loved. I am certainly to benefit you.” The Imam then said, ‘This is in the book of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious.’ I then asked, ‘May Allah keep my soul in the service of your cause, is this from the book of Allah?’ He said, ‘It is in Yunus Surah ten where the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, say, “Those who have believed and have observed rules of faithfulness, there is good news for them in the worldly life and in the hereafter, there is no change in the words of Allah and this is the great success.’””( 10:64)

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that when a dying person loses the ability to speak, the Messenger of Allah comes to him along with whomever Allah wants. The Messenger of Allah sits near his right side and the other on his left side. The Messenger of Allah then says, ‘What you hoped for is in front of you, you are safe from that of which you were afraid.’ Then he opens for him a door to paradise saying, ‘This is your dwelling place in paradise. However, if you like I can send you back to the worldly life where you can have gold and silver.’ He will then say, ‘I do not want the worldly things.’ At this time his color whitens, his forehead sweats, his lips shrink, his nostrils expand and his left eye tears up (moistons with tears). Whichever of these signs you see is enough. When the soul departs the body, it is given the choice again as when in the body but it chooses the life hereafter. He is then washed among those who wash him and is turned side to side among those who turn him side to side. When he is wrapped up in the shroud and is placed on the stretcher, his spirit comes out and begins to walk before the people. The spirits of believing people meet him with greetings of peace and good news of whatever bounties Allah, to whom belongs the Glorious praise, has prepared for him. When he is placed in his grave his spirit is returned to him down to his thighs and is asked of what he knows. If he then comes up with what he knows, that door which the Messenger of Allah had shown to him is opened, light, brightness, coolness, goodness and sweet smelling fragrance comes to him from there.’ The narrator has said that I then asked, ‘What about the strong pressure that grave applies?’ The Imam replied, ‘Never, a thing as such ever happens to believing people. By Allah, this earth feels proud of him saying, “Look, a believing person walks upon me but no believing person walks upon you.” The earth says to him, “I loved you when you walked upon my back and when I love, you can see what I will do for you.” It opens up as far and wide as his eyes can see.’”

“I was present at the time of the death of one of the sons of Sabur - both being people of merits, piety and great sincerity in their belief. One of them became ill and I think he was Zachariah ibn Sabur. I visited him in his dying condition. He stretched his hand and then said, ‘O Ali, my hands have become white.’ I then visited abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), when Muhammad ibn Muslim was also there. When I stood up to leave, thinking that Muhammad would inform him about the case of the man (Zachariah ibn Sabur), he sent someone after me and I returned. He said, ‘Tell me about the man in whose dying condition you were present. What did you hear from him?’ I replied, ‘He stretched his hand and then said, “O Ali, my hands have become white!” Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), then said, ‘By Allah he saw him, by Allah he saw him, by Allah he saw him! ’”

“I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) say, ‘Only from you, by Allah, it (good deeds) is accepted and only your sins are forgiven. There is nothing between any one of you and bliss, joy and the delight of heart, except the time when the soul reaches here’ - pointing to his throat he continued - ‘and when that time comes the Messenger of Allah, Ali, Gabriel and the angel of death come to visit him. Ali comes near him and says, ‘O Messenger of Allah, this person loved us (Ahl al-Bayt), thus please, love him.’ The Messenger of Allah, then says, ‘O Gabriel, this person loved Allah, His Messenger, and the family of His Messenger, thus please love him.’ Gabriel then says, ‘O angel of death, this person loved Allah, His Messenger, and the family of His Messenger, thus please love him and be kind to him.’ The angel of death then comes near him and says, ‘O servant of Allah, have you freed your neck (from punishment), acquired the certificate of exoneration (from sins) and established your hold to the greatest source of protection in the worldly life?”’ The Imam then said, ‘Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, then grants him power to say, “Yes, I have done so.’” The angel asks, “What is it?” He replies, “It is (my accepting) the guardianship, the Divine Authority of Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.) .” The angel then says, “You have spoken the truth. Allah has now granted you safety from whatever you feared and all of your wishes that you wanted have come true. There is good news for you along with the virtuous ancestors to be in the company of the Messenger of Allah, Ali and Fatimah, ‘Alayhim al-Salam .” Then he gently separates his soul from his body. Then his shroud is brought from paradise and a special (hunut) perfume in the form of Adhfar Musk. He then is dressed up with that shroud, and that hunut is used. In addition, he is dressed up with a yellow dress of the dresses of paradise. When he is placed in the grave, a door from paradise is opened, through which breeze and fragrance come to him. Thereafter, a space of the distance of one month’s journey is opened in front and on both of his sides. Then it is said to him, “Rest like a bridegroom in his bed with good news of the delightful breeze, fragrance, bountiful paradise and the pleasure of the Lord.” He then visits the family of Muhammad in Rizwan paradise, and is served food and drink with them. He speaks to them in their gatherings until the reappearance of al-Qa’im from Ahl al-Bayt. When al- Qa’im reappears, Allah resurrects them and they come along with him wholeheartedly in groups and formations. The unbelievers at this time become worthless, and disrespectful ones are destroyed but they are very few. People who want the reappearance of Al-Qa’im very quickly vanish and those who believe it (reappearance) is near gain their salvation. For this reason the Messenger of Allah said to Ali (a.s.), “You are my brother and the place for us to meet is the valley of Peace.’” The Imam then said, ‘When it is time for an unbeliever to die, the Messenger of Allah, Ali, Gabriel and the angel of death visit him. Ali comes closer to him and says, “O Messenger of Allah, this person disliked us (Ahl al-Bayt), thus dislike him.” The Messenger of Allah then says, “O Gabriel, this person disliked Allah, His Messenger and the family of His Messenger (Ahl al-Bayt), thus please, dislike him.” Gabriel then says, “O angel of death, this person disliked Allah, His Messenger, and the family of His Messenger, thus you should also dislike him and be firm with him.” The angel of death then comes near him and says, “O servant of Allah, have you freed your neck from punishment, acquired the certificate of exoneration from sins and established a secure hold to the source of safety in the worldly life?” He then says, “No.” The angel then says, “O enemy of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, His anger, punishment and hell await you. Whatever you were afraid of has come upon you”; and then he separates his soul from his body in a very harsh manner. Three hundred devils are then assigned over his soul who spit on his face and torture his soul. When he is placed in his grave a door of the doors of hell, whereby pus and flames enter in his grave, is opened.’”

“Once I said to abu Ja‘far (a.s.), that Salih ibn Mitham narrated to me from ‘Abayah al- Asadi who had heard Ali (a.s.), say the following: ‘By Allah, everyone who dislikes me and dies in such condition, can see me at the time of his death but with dislike. Everyone who loves me and dies in such condition, can see me at the time of his death with love.’ Abu Ja‘far (a.s.), then said, ‘Yes, and the Messenger of Allah on his right side.’”

“I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), say about a dying person, ‘His eye tears up (moistens with tears) at the time of his death.’ He then said, ‘This happens upon seeing the Messenger of Allah. He sees what makes him happy.’ He then said, ‘Is it not a fact that when a person sees someone whom he loves his eye tears up (moistens with tears) and he laughs?”’

“I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), say, ‘When a soul reaches the throat, an angel comes and says to him, “O you, - or so and so - what you had hoped for, be certain, is of no avail to you, meaning returning to the worldly life, but you have become safe from whatever you were afraid of.’””

I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), say, ‘When a man’s soul reaches his chest he then sees.’ I then asked, ‘May Allah keep my soul in the service of your cause, what does he see?’ The Imam said, ‘He sees the Messenger of Allah and he says, “I am the Messenger of Allah. I have good news for you.” He then sees Ali ibn abu Talib (a.s.), who says, “I am Ali ibn abu Talib, whom you loved. He loves to benefit you today.’” I then asked, ‘Can anyone who sees them come back to this life?’ He said, ‘No, when one sees them, he then can never return back to this life.’ He considered it a great thing. He said this is in the Quran in the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, ‘Those who believe, who were faithful to their belief, receive good news in this world and in the next life and there is no change in the words of Allah.’” (10:64)

“Khattab al-Juhniy was one of our associates and he was a hardheaded adversary of the family of Muhammad, ‘Alayhim al-Salam. He was a companion of Najdah al-Harawriyyah. I once went to visit him to maintain social relations and due to fear. I found him fainted in dying condition and heard him say, ‘What did I have to do against you, O Ali?’ I informed abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about it and he said, ‘By the Lord of al-Ka‘bah, he saw him! By the Lord of al-Ka‘bah, he saw him.’”

“I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), say, ‘When the soul of any one of you reaches this point, he is told, “You are now safe from the anxiety and sadness of the worldly matters.’” It is also said to him, ‘The Messenger of Allah, Ali and Fatimah, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, are in front of you.’”

“I heard abu Ja‘far (a.s.), say, ‘One of the signs of belief in a person is that at the time of his death his face turns more white than normal, his forehead sweats, something like tears flow from his eyes and that is the time for coming out of his soul from his body. The soul of an unbeliever comes out of his body as if forced out of his mouth with bubbles like the coming out of the soul of a camel.’”

“I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), saying, ‘May Allah grant you wellbeing, is it true that whoever loves to meet Allah, He loves to meet him, and whoever dislikes to meet Allah He dislikes to meet him?’ He said, ‘Yes, that is true.’ I then said, ‘By Allah, we dislike death.’ The Imam then said, ‘It is not the way you think it is. That happens upon observation. When one sees what he loves, then there is nothing more beloved to him than to advance forward and Allah, the Most High, loves to meet him and he loves to meet Allah at such time. When one sees things that he does not like, then there is nothing more to his dislike than meeting Allah and Allah dislikes meeting him.’”

“Once I said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘May Allah keep my soul in the service of your cause, I have heard a Hadith from your followers and servants who narrate from your father.’ He then asked, ’What is it?’ I replied, ‘They think that he said, “One should be proud of his affairs being as what we believe in when his soul reaches here.’” He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes, when that happens, the Holy Prophet of Allah comes, Ali comes, Gabriel comes and the angel of death comes. That angel then asks Ali (a.s.), “O Ali, did so and so love you and your family?” He says, “Yes, he loved us and denounced our enemies.” Then the Holy Prophet says this to Gabriel and Gabriel raises this to Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious.’”

“I heard abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), say, ‘When the soul of one of you reaches here’ - pointing to his throat - ‘his eyes become delightful.’”

“Once I said to abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), ‘These are the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, “When it (the soul) reaches the throat. ... if you are truthful.’” (56: 82- 87) The Imam said, ‘When it reaches the throat then it sees its dwelling in paradise and says, “Return me to the worldly life so I can inform my family of what I have seen.’” It then is said, ‘There is no way for that to happen.’”

“He (the Imam) has said, ‘If you see a dying person’s eyes fixed upon something and tears come out of the left eye, his forehead sweats, his lips shrink and his nostrils expand, then whatever of such things you find with him is sufficient (proof of his salvation).’ In another Hadith it says, ‘And if he laughs also it then is proof.’ He also said, ‘If you find his face frowning and his right eye tear up (shed tears) then you should note that it is (otherwise).”’