A letter from Abu Ddarda, May Allah be pleased with him
Abdu- Rahman Bin Muhammad al-Muharibi narrated that Abu Ddarda (May Allah be Pleased with him), once sent a letter to one of his brethren, and after greeting him with the peace of Allah, blessed be His Name, he wrote: “My dear brother, remember that there is nothing which is in your possession today that did not belong to someone else before you, and which will not soon become the trust of someone else after you. The only benefit you can partake of what is under your control today is the way you use it to allow your soul to reap its benefits tomorrow! Therefore, give preference to charitable deeds over and above beefing up the size of the inheritance of any one of your righteous children, and whom you do not know how will he use it? Otherwise, you will pass from this world to stand before someone who will not accept your failure; meanwhile, you would have worked hard in this world to bequeath one who will be grateful to someone other than you. The wealth you worked hard to amass in this world will eventually culminates in one of two possibilities:
1) It will either fall into the hands of someone who will use it in obedience to Allah’s commands, and whose deeds will benefit him, while you would have worked hard and deprived yourself of the benefits of such deeds; or,
2) It will fall into the hands of someone who disobeys Almighty Allah, blessed be His Name, and who will use it in an evil way, whereby you will share in his punishment and sufferings for what you have bequeathed him to nurture his weaknesses.
I swear by Almighty Allah, blessed be His Name, that neither of the above-described two categories of people is more worthy than yourself to receive Allah’s mercy, and none of them merits more than you what have worked hard and sweated to bequeath them to pacify their life and to assuage their comfort in this world after you depart from it. The best you can do for them is to pray for their sake. Ask for Allah’s mercy for those who died, and as for those who will remain the dwellers of this world after you die, trust that Almighty Allah, blessed be His Name, has guaranteed their sustenance, as well as that of everyone else, and for as long as they dwell herein. I bid you peace.”
Recorded by Imam Abu Na’im al-Asfahaani (948-1038C.E.) in his book “The beauty of the Righteous and ranks of the Elite”
