Take your lesson from the state I am in - my quietness...

Take your lesson from the state I am in - my quietness, pacifity, my eyes can hardly turn in their sockets, and my limbs can hardly move. This is clearer to you than words of advice”. My father also talked of the Imam’s words when he warned of the fire of hell, “Let it be known, this delicate flesh cannot stand the hell fire. So, have mercy on yourselves as you have experienced the trials and tribulations of this life.

Have you experienced agony of a prick of a thorn, a stumble that bleeds the foot, and the unbearable sweltering heat? Just imagine how much worse it will be, if one is thrown into two layers of fire, lying on stone and taking Satan for a companion!”.

It is time you should fear the aftermath of death, not merely death itself, ”On the day when you shall see it, every nursing woman shall quit in confusion what she suckled, and every pregnant woman shall lay down her burden, and you shall see men intoxicated, and they shall not be intoxicated but the chastisement of Allah will be severe.” (22/2).

”On the day that every soul shall find present what it has done of good and what it has done of evil, it shall wish that between it and that (evil) there was a long duration of time; and Allah makes you to be cautious of (retribution from) Himself and Allah is Compassionate to the servants.” (3/28) Let it be that the person who is in their last throws or who has just died serve as a reminder for you that your turn shall come. It should not be a terrifying experience.

A momentary silence prevailed that gave me the chance to reconsider my position. However, it did not last long, for my father cut short my contemplation, saying: - Should it happen that you see a Muslim dying, leave your apprehensions aside and [turn him towards the Qiblah (the direction, of Ka’ba, one must face while praying)]. * How should one do that? - Make him lie on his back with the soles of his feet pointing to the qiblah.

* Does this mean that I should stretch his legs in the direction of the qiblah? - Precisely, irrespective of whether the dying person is a man or a woman, old or young. It is advisable too that you whisper into his ears to instil in him how to bear witness to the unity of Allah and the prophethood of Mohammad (s.a.w.), to acknowledge the imamate of the twelve Imams, and to recite the Chapter of as-Saffat unto him to ease the agony of the last throws of death.