Page:Selections from Muhammadan Traditions - tr. William Goldsack (1923).djvu/277

 delights; for no day will come to the grave, but the latter will speak and say, ' I am the house of the stranger, and I am the solitary house, and I am the house of the clay, and I am the house of worms.' And when a believing servant is buried the grave says to him, ' Be welcome and at thine ease, for thou art certainly the most beloved to me of those who have walked over me. And since I rule over thee this day, and thou hast returned to me, thou shalt now see what I will do to thee.' Then the grave is made spacious for him as far as the eye can see, and a door of paradise is opened for him. And when a wicked servant or infidel is buried, the grave says to him, ' Thou art not welcome, and will not be at thine ease, for verily thou art certainly the most hateful to me of those who have walked over me. And since I rule over thee this day, and thou hast returned to me, thou shalt now see what I will do to thee. Then it will press on him until his ribs are displaced."' (Abu Sa'id) said, * Then the Apostle of God mentioned with his ringers, and placed some of them between others, and said, " And seventy serpents are ordered for him, one of which, if it breathed on the earth, nothing of what remained on the earth would grow; and they bite him and lacerate him until he is taken to give his account." And the Apostle of God said, 1 Verily the grave is only one of the gardens of paradise or one of the pits of hill-fire." ' At Tirmidhi.

It is related from Abu Hurairah that, ' The Apostle of God said, " My Lord has ordered me nine things : the fear of God in secret and in public; speaking words of justice, whether in anger or in pleasure; moderation in poverty and in affluence; that I should give presents to those who are estranged from me; that I should give to him who denies me; that I should forgive him who oppresses me; that my silence be spent in contemplation, and my speaking in mentioning God's name; that my seeing be in being an example; and that I should command what is good." ' Raztn.

ON THE MUTABILITY OF MEN

It is related from Abu Sa'id that, ' The Apostle of God said, " You will certainly follow the customs of those who were before you, span by span, and cubit by cubit, until, if they