وَقَالَ (عليه السلام):
Amir al-mu'minin, peace be upon him, said:
نَفْسُ الْمَرْءِ
The breath of a man is
خُطَاهُ إِلَى أَجَلِهِ.
a step towards his death. 25
25. That is just as each step makes way for the other and this exercise by steps is the means of nearing the goal, similarly every breath of life serves as, death-knell for the previous one and carries life towards death, as if the breath whose motion is regarded as a sign of life is in fact the sign of the passing away of one moment of life and a means of nearing the goal of death, because each breath is death for the previous one, and life is the name of those very death -carrying breaths. Every breath is the dead body of the life that passed by. Life is the name of living by facing successive deaths.
