It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) that he delivered a sermon to us. He praised and extolled Allah Almighty as He deserves, then said: "I enjoin upon you the fear (taqwa) of Allah, and that you praise Him as He deserves, and that you keep your hope (raghbah) mixed with fear (rahbah), for Allah Almighty praised Zakariyya (peace be upon him) and his family, saying: 'Indeed, they used to hasten to good deeds and call upon Us in hope and fear, and they were humble before Us' [Surah al-Anbiya: 90] . Then, O servants of Allah, know that Allah has taken your souls as a pledge in return for His right, and has taken firm covenants from you upon that. He has bought from you this small, transient life in exchange for the many everlasting blessings of the Hereafter. And here among you is the Book of Allah, whose light is never extinguished and whose wonders never come to an end. So seek illumination from its light, take admonition from His Book, and take guidance from it for the Day of Darkness (the Day of Resurrection), for Allah created you only for His worship, and He has appointed over you noble recording angels who know your every deed. Then, O servants of Allah, know also that you pass your mornings and evenings within an appointed term whose knowledge has been hidden from you. So if you are able to have the moments of your life come to an end while you are engaged in deeds of obedience to Allah, then do so; and you will never be able to do that except with the help of Allah. So race (towards good deeds) in the moments of respite before death comes, before your life ends and it pushes you back to your evil deeds. For some people wasted the respite of their lives on others and forgot their own end, so I forbid you from becoming like them. So hurry, hurry, and save yourselves, save yourselves, for behind you is a pursuer (death) chasing you with great diligence, whose pace is very swift." The chain of narration of this hadith is sahih (authentic), but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.