The example of the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not remember His Lord is like the example of the living and the dead person

Explanation

The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) clarified the difference between the person who remembers Allah Almighty and the one who does not and how such a difference is like that between the living and the dead person in terms of benefit and good appearance. The one who remembers his Lord is like the living person who is outwardly adorned by the light of life and inwardly adorned by the light of knowledge and who offers benefit, whereas the one who does not remember Allah is like the dead person who is outwardly idle and inwardly invalid and bears no benefit. Likewise, the house whose dwellers remember Allah is described as being living; otherwise, it is a dead house given its dwellers' heedlessness of remembering Allah. Describing the house as being living or dead is meant to refer to its dwellers.

Lessons

• Encouraging the remembrance of Allah and warning against being heedless thereof.
• Remembering Allah provides the soul with life just as the soul provides the body with life.
• It was from the practice of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) to give examples to make meanings clear and easy to understand.
• An-Nawawi said: It indicates the recommendation of remembering Allah Almighty in the house and that it should not be devoid of Dhikr (remembrance of Allah).
• An-Nawawi said: It denotes that having a long life in obeying Allah is a merit even if the dead person is moving to a good destination. This is because the living person will catch up with him and will have a chance to be better than him by the acts of obedience he performs.