'Abdur-Rahmaan bin Muhammad al-Muhaaribi narrated that
Abu-d-Dardaa', Allah be pleased with him, once sent a letter
to one of his brethren, and after greeting him with the peace
of Allah, blessed be His Name, he wrote: 'My dear brother,
remember that there is nothing which is in your possession
today that did not belong to someone else before you, and
which will not soon become the trust of someone else after
you. The only benefit you can partake of what is under your
you control today, is the way you use it to allow your soul
to reap its benefits tomorrow! Therefore, give preference to
charitable deeds over and above beefing up the size of the
inheritance of any one of your righteous children, and whom
you do not know how will he use it! Otherwise, you will
pass from this world to stand before someone Who will not
excuse your failure, meanwhile, you would have worked
hard in this world to bequeath one who will be grateful to
someone other than you. The wealth you worked hard to
amass in this world will eventually culminate in one of two
possibilities: 1) It will either fall into the hands of someone
who will use it in obedience to Allah's commands, and
whose deeds will benefit him, while you would have worked
hard and deprived yourself of the benefits of such deeds; or,
2) it will fall into the hands of someone who disobeys
Almighty Allah, blessed be His Name, and who will use it in
an evil way, whereby you will share in his punishment and
sufferings for what you have bequeathed him to nurture his
weaknesses. I swear by Almighty Allah, blessed be His
Name, that neither of the above-described two categories of
people is more worthy than yourself to receive Allah's
mercy, and none of them merits more than you what you
have worked hard and sweated to bequeath them to pacify
their life and to assuage their comfort in this world after you
depart from it. The best you can do for them is to pray for
their sake. Ask for Allah's mercy for those who died, and as
for those who will remain the dwellers of this world after
you die, trust that Almighty Allah, blessed be His Name, has
guaranteed their sustenance, as well as that of everyone else,
and for as long as they dwell herein. I bid you peace."
