Condemnation of Worldly Matters and Abstaining Thereby

13. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Ali ibn al-Hakam from abu Ayyub al-Khazzaz from abu ‘Ubaydah al-Hadhdha’ who has said the following: “I asked abu Ja’far عليه السلام ‘(I request you to) teach me a Hadith that can benefit me.’ The Imam said, ‘O abu ‘Ubaydah, speak of death very often. No one speaks of death very often but that it reduces his interest in worldly matters.’”