العُمُرُ

LIFESPAN

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2– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Verily nobody will receive a single extra day to his lifespan except that another day will be taken from him from his end.’
[Tanbih al-Khawatir, v. 2, p. 218]

3– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Be even more niggardly with your life than with your dirham and your dinar
[i.e. your money].’
[Makarim al-Akhlaq, v. 2, p. 364, no. 2661]

4– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Verily lifespan is fixed and no one will surpass that which has been allotted to him, so rush to make the most of it before time runs out.’
[A`alam al-Din, p. 336, no. 12]

5– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Your yesterday has passed on, your tomorrow is uncertain, and your today is to be taken advantage of.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 9840]

6– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘How fast the hours in a day go by, and how fast the days in a month, and how fast the months in a year, and how fast the years in a lifetime!’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Sermon 188]

7– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘O people!
[take advantage of] Now! Now before regret sets in, and before “anyone should say, ‘Alas for my negligence in the vicinage of Allah!”
[ Qur’ an 3956].
[ Tanbih al-Khawatir, v. 2, p. 89]

8– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Allah has mercy on the man who knows that his breaths are but his steps towards his end, so he hastens to perform good deeds and cuts short his high hopes.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 5214]

9– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Be cautious of wasting away your lives in that which will not last for you, for whatever has passed of them never returns.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 2618]

10– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘Verily your lifetime is the ransom for your eternal prosperity if you spend it in the obedience of your Lord.’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, no. 3429]

11– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘On the Day of Resurrection, it will be announced, ‘Where are the sixty year olds’ for this is the age referring to which Allah, most High, has said, “Did we not give you a life long enough that one who is heedful might take admonition”
[ Kanz al-`Ummal, no. 2924]

12– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘The age up to which Allah accepts the excuse of His servants for certain things is sixty years.’
[Nahj al-Balagha, Saying 326]

13– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘So alas for every negligent one that his age be a proof against him, and that the days of his life should lead him to perdition!’
[Ghurar al-Hikam, Sermon 64]

14– Imam al-Baqir (AS) said, ‘When a man reaches forty years of age, it is said to him, ‘Be on your guard, for now you have no excuse’ , and the forty-year old man is no longer as worthy of being excused as the twenty-year old man.’
[al-Khisal, p. 545, no. 24]

15– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Remain mostly in the state of purity and Allah will increase your lifespan.’
[Amali al-Mufid, p. 60, no. 5]

16– The Prophet (SAWA) said, ‘Whoever would like his sustenance to be amplified and his destined end to be postponed should maintain relations with his kin.’
[al-Khisal, p. 32, no. 112]

17– Imam Ali (AS) said, ‘He who wishes to remain alive – though there is no remaining forever – should eat his lunch early, wear good shoes, dress in light clothing, and lessen his sexual intercourse with women.’
[`Uyoun Akhbar al-Ridha (AS), v. 2, p. 38, no. 112]

18– Imam al-Baqir (AS) said, ‘Command our shi`aa to visit the grave of al-Husayn b. Ali (AS), for verily going there increases sustenance, extends one’s life, and repels evil forces.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 101, p. 4, no. 12]

19– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘He who has good intentions is given an increase in lifespan.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 69, p. 408, no. 117]

20– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘He who excels in his good treatment of his family is given an increase in his lifespan.’
[Amali al-Tusi, p. 245, no. 425]

21– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘If you would like Allah to increase your lifespan then please your parents.’
[al-Zuhd li al-Husayn b. Sa`aid, p. 33, no. 87]

22– Fatima al-Zahra’ (AS) said in her intimate supplication, ‘O Allah, by Your knowledge of the unseen, and Your power over creation, keep me alive so long as You know that life is good for me, and cause me to die when death is good for me.’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 94, p. 225, no. 1]

23– Imam Zayn al-Abidin (AS) said in his supplication for noble moral traits, ‘And let me live so long as my life is spent in Your obedience, but when my life becomes a breeding ground for Satan, then take me to You.’
[al-Sahifat al-Sajjadiyya, p. 82, Supplication 20]

24– Imam al-Sadiq (AS) said, ‘Contemplate now O Mufadhal about the fact that man’ s lifespan has been kept concealed from his knowledge; for verily if he was to know the span of his life, and if it were short, he would never take pleasure in living, knowing his approaching death and always in anticipation of the time that he knows. In fact, he would be like someone whose wealth has perished or is close to perishing, so he feels a sense of poverty and terror at the thought of losing his wealth and a fear of poverty, even though that feeling which the man who knows that he is going to lose his life is much more intense, for the one whose wealth is diminishing still continues to hope that some of it will remain enabling him to live off that, whereas he who is certain of the loss of his life is taken over by despair. And if instead his lifespan was to be long, and he knew this, he would be certain of staying alive and would therefore become absorbed in vain pleasures and sins, and would act to gratify his desires intending to repent at the end of his life… And if you retort by saying that right now, even though his lifespan is concealed from him and he is approaching death, he still yields to vile sins and commits forbidden acts, we would reply that the way this matter has been decreed is exactly how it is at the moment, and if man, in spite of that
[i.e. his ignorance of his death] does not desist from and shun sins then that is because of his own heedless merriment and the hardness of his heart, and not because of a mistake in divine planning!’
[Bihar al-Anwar, v. 3, p. 83]