Chapter on Guiding the Dying, Positioning Them at Death, Procedures for Their Final Moments, Washing Them, and Placing Them in Shrouds

The Shaykh (Al-Mufid), may Allah سبحانه وتعالى support him, narrated to me from Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Walid, from Muhammad ibn Yahya, and from Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Dawud, from Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Babawayh, from Muhammad ibn Yahya, from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Yahya, from Ayyub ibn Nuh, from al-Musalli, from ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Ubayd. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Ubayd said: I asked Abu ‘Abdullah عليه السلام about the washing (Ghusl) of the deceased. Imam عليه السلام said: "A cloth should be placed over him, then his private parts should be washed, and he should be given ablution (Wudu) like that of prayer. Then his head should be washed with lotus leaves (Sidr) and soapwort (Ushnan), then with water and camphor, and then with pure water, in which seven intact leaves are placed."