Translation of the saying:
One of our companions informed us, he said: I saw Mansoor Hashemi Khorasani leaning on a berry tree, advising people, and saying:
“O servants of God who are busy gathering wealth and competing to gain power! Know that your life is unstable, and your death is close. Graves have been dug for you, and shrouds have been cut for you. Soon the world for which you suffered, oppressed, told lies, and ruined reputations will turn away from you and abandon you. It will not feel sorry for your stillness after your movement nor be sad about your coldness after your warmth nor grieve over your children when they become orphans nor sigh for your wives when they become widows; because no mercy has been put in its disposition, and there is no compassion in its nature. It has stepped on the necks of infant children, cast dust on the heads of unsuccessful brides, and has not spared ambitious young people or needy old people. Many are oppressed people whose cries for help it has not heard, and many are fallen people whose hands it has not taken! Sigh for shouts that rise to the heaven because of it, and for tears that fall on the ground because of it! You are the heirs of the past people, and future people will be your heirs. You live in the houses of those who now live in the graves, and have taken the positions of those whose bones were stripped of flesh. Many are pretty faces that swelled and exploded, and many are strong bodies that rotted away and fell to pieces! So which of the thing of the world you are attached to, and what do you hope for from it?! While what you have gathered will be scattered, and what you have built will collapse. You have fattened your bodies for worms and spent your wealth for termites. Your lives hang on a sip, and your breaths depend on a mouthful. Your limbs are weak, and the pests of the world lie in wait. Wherever you go, death takes hold of your collars, and you cannot escape it. You will neither be safe from it on the tops of the mountains nor hidden from it in the crevices of the valleys. Now that you have the opportunity and the ability, make provision for the Hereafter and force yourselves to do what will benefit you of deeds.”
At this time, a young man among the people said: “O master! What is the best provision for the Hereafter, and what is the most beneficial deed for us?” So His Honor looked at him and said:
“You will be trained by my teaching and guided by my guidance; because my tongue speaks wisdom, and knowledge gushes forth from within me. The best provision for the Hereafter is piety, and the most beneficial deed for you is helping the Caliph of God; because avoiding evil deeds takes precedence over doing good deeds, and helping the Caliph of God is worthier than helping others. Beware of helping oppressors to shed the blood of the oppressed, and beware of taking rulers’ side to leave the Mahdi’s side! Who is more miserable than one who trades his Hereafter for the world of others, and who is more astray than one who puts his chosen one before God’s chosen one?! Sorrow will run like blood through all his organs, and regret will cover him like skin from head to toe when death swoops down upon him like an eagle and sinks its claws like an arrow into his soul to take him with itself to a terrifying and exhausting world from which no return is expected.”
Then he turned toward the people and said loudly:
“O people! Turn away from the world before it turns away from you, and turn to the Hereafter before it turns to you. Force your selves to act piously, and do not get them used to comfort. Make the world hard for yourselves so that the Hereafter will be easy for you; because I swear to God, the hardship of the world will end, but the hardship of the Hereafter will never end; as the comfort of the world does not last long, and the comfort of the Hereafter is eternal. Know that the eternal Heaven is for those who pay for it, and what a profit have made those who have traded what ends for what lasts! Good for them, and kudos to them! May they enjoy God’s satisfaction and rewards!”
Then he got up to leave, then the young man came to him and said: “O master! Allow me to come with your disciples; because I have no desire left for the world!” So His Honor looked at him and said:
“Now that you renounced the world, come with me and I will guide you to the Hereafter; because I know short ways and good methods.”
So the young man accompanied His Honor and joined his disciples to be trained to help the Mahdi.
