The death of Abu Bakr (May Allah be pleased with him

The following is his final injunction to Umar ibn Khattab. This translation has been taken Sheikh Abdul Hakim Murads’ excellent translation of Imam Ghazalis’ “Remembrance of death and the afterlife.” Page seventy five. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Al-Ghazali-Remembrance-Death-Afterlife-Religious/dp/0946621136/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1203174708&sr=8-3

Then he sent for Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and when he arrived, told him, “I am going to give you a final injunction. Know that Allah has rights over you in the daytime the discharge of which He will not accept at night, and that He has rights over you at night which He will not accept to be discharged during the day.

He does not accept the supererogatory act of worship until that which is mandatory has been performed.

The only man whose balance is heavy is he for whom it weighs down on the Day of Arising by virtue of his following the truth in this world although it was a heavy burden upon him, for it is the nature of a balance in which only the truth is placed to be weighted down. And only the man whose balance is light is he for whom it is light on the day of Arising because of his pursing vanity and its easiness to bear for him; and lightness is the nature of a balance in which nought is placed save sanity.

Know that Allah has described the people of Heaven according to their best works, choosing to overlook their sins, so that a man might say, “I am beneath these people and shall not attain their rank.” And that He has described the people of Hell according to their most evil acts, rejecting the good which they had worked, so that a man might say, “I am superior to these people.”

Know that He has given you verses of mercy and verses of torment, so that the believer may both desire and fear, and not be cast by his own hands into ruin, or wish for anything from Allah save the truth. If you should respect this injunction of mine, then no absent thing will be more beloved to you than death, which you cannot escape; should you cause it to be lost, however, then nothing which is absent will be more hateful to you than death, which you cannot escape nor hinder.”