أبان بن عبدة الصيرفي الكوفي

“I said to Abū Jaʿfar (a), ‘May I be your ransom! Inform me of something that I may benefit from.’ So he said, ‘O Abā ʿUbaydah, remember death often, for a person does not remember death often but that he detaches himself from the [yearnings of the material] world.’”

“Once I said to abu Ja‘far (a.s.), ‘Please speak to me about things whereby I can benefit.’ He said, ‘O abu ‘Ubaydah, speak of death very often. Whoever speaks of death very often restrains from the worldly matters (sins).”’

“There are three characteristics which if one possesses he shall not die until he suffers from them: Oppression, cutting off ties with the relations of kin and falsely swearing by God which is a form of fighting with God. The best rewarded form of worshipping is having relations with one’s ties of kin. Some people get wealthier even though they are evildoers since they have relations with their ties of kin. Their kindness would increase their life-span. Falsely swearing by God and cutting off the relations of kin would destroy homes and would overburden the wombs which would cause an interruption in the continuation of generations.”