Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 37152 — The words of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq

It is narrated from Zubayd, who said: When death approached Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), he sent for Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: I am giving you a counsel, if you will preserve it. Allah Almighty has a right during the night which Allah Almighty does not accept in the day, and Allah Almighty has a right during the day which Allah Almighty does not accept at night. And voluntary deeds are not accepted until the obligations are fulfilled. Those whose deeds are light on the Day of Resurrection will have light deeds only because they followed falsehood in the world and falsehood felt light to them. And it is only right that a scale in which nothing but falsehood is placed should be light. And those whose deeds are heavy on the Day of Resurrection will have heavy deeds only because they followed the truth in the world and the truth felt heavy upon them. And it is only fitting that a scale in which the truth is placed on the Day of Resurrection should be heavy. Do you not see that Allah Almighty has mentioned the people of Paradise by their good deeds and has overlooked their errors? So one who speaks says: I cannot reach these people. And Allah Almighty has mentioned the people of Hell by their evil deeds and has rejected their good deeds back upon them. So one who speaks says: I am better than these people. And Allah Almighty has mentioned the verse of mercy and the verse of punishment, so that the believer may be both fearful and longing, may not wish anything of Allah other than the truth, and may not throw himself into destruction with his own hands. If you preserve these words of mine, then nothing absent from you will be more beloved to you than death, and death is inevitable. And if you neglect these words of mine, then nothing absent from you will be more hateful to you than death, and you cannot escape it.