DEATH IS NEARER THAN HOPE

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'eed Khudri رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم planted a piece of wood in front of him and another at his side. Then he planted yet another farther away. And, he asked, "Can you say what it is?" They submitted, "Allah and His Messenger know best." He said, "This (first piece) is man, and this (Second) is his death (as near him as these two pieces of wood are)." Abu Sa'eed رضي الله عنه said that he thought he said, "And this is hope (Pointing to the third). Man longs for (his) hope (to be fulfilled) but death overtakes him before he can have his hope realized." [1]