(65) Chapter: Remembrance of Death and Restraint of Wishes

Ibn Mas'ud (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
The Prophet (ﷺ) drew up a square and in the middle of it he drew a line, the end of which jutted out beyond the square. Further across the middle line, he drew a number of smaller lines. Then he (ﷺ) said, "The figure represents man and the encircling square is the death which is encompassing him. The middle line represents his desires and the smaller lines are vicissitudes of life. If one of those misses him, another distresses him, and if that one misses him, he falls victim to another."

[Al-Bukhari].

Commentary: This means that human life is perpetually exposed to mishaps. If man escapes one mishap, he comes across the other one. His life is spent in a continuous struggle against tackling the hostile situations. Besides, his life remains entangled in unending hopes and wishes which are never fulfilled and finally he slips into the iron-grip of death. To sum up, man is ever closer to the border line of death and not supposed to remain unprepared for it. There is no end to wishful thinking and, therefore, he should not adopt a careless attitude towards the inescapable death in the pursuit of illusory hopes. The best course for him is to remain ever-ready for his exit from the worldly stage.