Ali Passes by a Grave – Hazrat Ali Ka Aik Qabar Par Guzar
Kumayl says: “I was with Ali (radiyallahu anhu) once on a journey, when he reached an uninhabited place. He approached a grave and said: “O you dwellers of the graves! O you who live amongst ruins! O you who live in the wilderne4ss and solitude! How live you in the other world? How has it gone with you there?
He continued: ‘The news from our side is that all you did leave of the wealth and riches here, has long been distributed; your children are orphans; your widows have long since remarried. Now Now let us hear about you.’ He then turned to me: ‘O Kumayl! If they could speak, they would have told us that the best provision for the akhirah is fear of Allah ta’ala.’ Tears welled out of his eyes, as he added: ‘O Kumayl! The grave is a container of the deeds; but one realizes it only after death.”
Our good or bad actions are stored up in our graves. It is said in a Hadith that every person meets his good deeds in the grave in the shape of an agreeable companion who befriends and consoles him there. But his wicked deeds assume hideous shapes emitting bad smell, which add to his misery. In another Hadith it is said: “Three things accompany a person to his grave– his wealth (as was the prevalent custom among the Arabs of the time), his relatives, and his deeds. His wealth and his relatives turn back after his burial, but his deeds go in and stay with him in the grave.”
Once Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) asked the sahabah “Do you know in what relation your relatives, your wealth and your deeds stand to you?” The sahabah expressed their desire to know about it. He replied: “These are like a person who has three brothers. When he is about to die, he calls one of his brothers to him and asks him: ‘Brother! You know my condition. What help cam you give me at this time?’ That brother replies: ‘I shall call the doctor to you, nurse you and attend upon you. And when you are dead, I shall bathe you, enshroud you, and carry you to the grave. Then I shall make du’a for you after you are buried.’ This brother is his relatives. He asks his second brother the same thing who says: ‘I shall remain with you as long as you are alive. As soon as you are dead I shall betake myself to someone else.’This brother is his worldly wealth. He then questions the last brother in the same manner, who makes response:’I shall not forsake you even in your grave; and I shall accompany you into that place of utter solitude. When your deeds are weighed in the balance, I shall immediately lend my weight to the scale of your good deeds and weigh if down.’ This brother is the personification of his good deeds. Now tell me, which of he brothers you regard to be the most useful to the person.’ The Sahabah replied: ‘O Nabi of Allah! The last brother is really the most useful to him. There is no doubt about it. The other two brothers were of no use.”
