ʿUyūn akhbār al-Riḍā 1, record 217 of the digital edition

Translation

28-9 The interpreter Muhammad ibn Al-Qasim al-Jurjani known as Abil Hassan - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Ahmad ibn Al-Hassan Al-Husseini quoted on the authority of Al-Hassan ibn Ali (s), on the authority of his father Al-Ridha (s), on the authority of his father Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kadhim (s) that Imam As-Sadiq (s) was asked, “Please describe death for us.” He (s) said, “Death is like a good-scented flower for a believer. He smells it and faints due to its good scent and his pains stop. However, it is like a cobra or scorpion’s bite or even worse for an unbeliever.” Then the Imam (s) was asked, “Some people say that death is harder than being torn into pieces with a saw or scissors, being ground down into powder with stones, or having the eyes grounded in a mill.” The Imam (s) said, “It is so for some of the unbelievers and wrong-doers. Have you not seen any such people suffer? What is even worse than all these punishments is the chastisement of the Hereafter since it is evenharsher than the chastisements in this world.” Others asked, “Then why is it that we see some of the unbelievers die an easier death? They laugh, talk and then die. Some of the believers die in the same way. However, some of the believers and unbelievers experience these calamities at the time of death.” The Imam (s) replied, “The comfort for the believers is the expedition of his rewards. The hardships experienced by a believer at the time of death are in order to cleanse him of his sins, so that he may enter the Hereafter with purity and cleanliness, and deserve to receive eternal rewards without any obstacles in his way. The comfort for an unbeliever at the time of death is to achieve the granting of his rewards for his good deeds so that he may experience nothing, but chastisement when he enters the Hereafter. An unbeliever’s hardship at the time of death is a starting point for his chastisement. This is because God is Just and He does not oppress anyone.”The Imam (s) added, ‘As-Sadiq (s) was asked about the plague. He (s) said, ‘It is God’s punishment for some people and His Mercy upon others.’ He (s) was asked, ‘How could Punishment be Mercy?’ The Imam (s) said, ‘Don’t you know that the Fire of Hell is Punishment for the atheists, but it is God’s Mercy upon the Guardians of Hell?’

Translation: Dr. Ali Peiravi — published with the edition, reproduced verbatim.