al-Ghaflah ʿan al-Mawt · The Heart That Forgot Death

The story

When ʿUmar passed, his son ʿAbdullāh would visit his grave often. He would say: 'O father, my fear of the Day is greater than ever, knowing what awaits you was a man like you.' Death-remembrance was real.

Why it's named first

Today is the second-to-last day of the Tazkiyah year. The cluster's last diagnostic disease before the seal: forgetting death. The Prophet ﷺ commanded the abundant remembrance of the destroyer of pleasures. The disease is the opposite: living as if death visits others, not us.

In the Qur'an

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلْمَوْتِ ۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۖ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ ٱلنَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ ٱلْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ۗ وَمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَآ إِلَّا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْغُرُورِ

“Every soul will taste death, and you will only be given your [full] compensation on the Day of Resurrection. So he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]. And what is the life of this world except the enjoyment of delusion.”

3:185Listen Read 3:185 with tafsir

Svenska: Varje människa skall smaka döden. Men först på Uppståndelsens dag skall ni få er fulla lön. Den som då rycks bort från Elden och förs till paradiset har sannerligen vunnit en stor seger. - Livet i denna värld [skänker] bara bedräglig glädje.

In the Sunnah

«أَكْثِرُوا ذِكْرَ هَادِمِ اللَّذَّاتِ».

The cure

Visit graves monthly. Read the death-verses. Sit by the dying when possible. Write your will and update it yearly. Each act re-pairs the heart with its destination.

What is at stake

The death-forgetter delays everything. Tawbah delayed. ḥajj delayed. Reconciliation delayed. Death does not delay; the regret arrives.