And Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq has said[^8]...

And Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq has said[^8]: Verily, Allah has inculcated fraternity between souls in the World of Shadows two thousand years prior to the creation of bodies. If our Steadfast Ones ( qa'imuna ), the People of the House, had been present (at that time), verily the brother who had fraternized in the World of Shadows[^9] would have inherited in preference to the real brother.

And as-Sadiq has said: Verily the souls meet one another in the ethereal world ( al-hawa' ) and make inquiries[^10] - about one another. When a soul from the earth approaches them, the souls (in the ethereal world) say: Leave it! for it has come from an awful place. Then they ask it: What did so and so do? Whenever the returned soul said, “He is alive”, they hoped to meet him. And whenever the returned soul said that he had died, they said: He has perished, he has perished!

And He, Who is Exalted above all, says: “And he on whom my wrath cometh is lost indeed” (Qur'an 20:81) . And He says: “As for him whose balances are light, his mother is hawiya! And knowest thou what that is? A raging fire!” [^11] (Qur'an 101:8-11) . The story of the world and its inhabitants is the story of the ocean, the sailor and the ship.

Luqman said to his son: O my little one, verily the world is a deep sea, in which many people have perished.[^12] So make faith ( iman ) in Allah, the Mighty and Glorious, your ship in it; and the fear of Allah, your provision; and trust in Allah, your sail. And if you are saved, it will be by the mercy of Allah; and if you perish, it will be by your own sins, not because of Allah.

The most trying moments for the sons of Adam are three: the day of birth, the day of death and the day of resurrection. And Allah has greeted the Prophet Yahya (John) with peace in these moments and said: “Peace on him the day he was born, and the day he dieth, and the day he shall be raised alive!” (Qur'an 19:15) . And Jesus has greeted himself on these occasions and said: “Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!” (Qur'an 19:33) .