عَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى الْأَشْعَرِيِّ رَضِيَ اللّهُ عَنْهُ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ: «مَثَلُ الَّذِي يَذكُرُ رَبَّهُ وَالَّذِي لا يَذْكُرُهُ، مَثَلُ الْحَيِّ وَالْمَيِّتِ» رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ. ورَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ فقَالَ: «مَثَلُ الْبَيْتِ الَّذِي يُذْكَرُ اللّهُ فِيهِ، وَالْبَيْتِ الَّذِي لا يُذْكَرُ اللّهُ فِيهِ، مَثَلُ الْحَيِّ وَالْمَيِّتِ».
Abu Musa al-Ashari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The likeness of the one who remembers his Lord and the one who does not remember Him is that of the living and the dead." Reported by al-Bukhari. Muslim reported it with the wording: "The likeness of the house in which Allah is remembered and the house in which Allah is not remembered is that of the living and the dead."
الدروس · lessons
شبَّه النّبيُّ صلَّى اللّهُ عليه وسلَّم الفَرْقَ بينَ المؤمِنِ الَّذِي يَذكُرُ اللّهَ تعالى وبينَ مَن لا يَذكُرُه بالفَرْقِ بينَ الحَيِّ والميِّتِ في نَفعِه وحُسنِ ظاهرِه وباطِنِه. أنّ ترك الذكر يشبه الموت، إذ أنّ تركه يورث الغفلة والبُعد عن فعل الخير فيقلّ النفع أو ينعدم، وهذا يشبه الميت في عدم الانتفاع به.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) likened the difference between the believer who remembers Allah the Exalted and the one who does not remember Him to the difference between the living and the dead, in terms of benefit and the goodness of both his outward and inward state. That abandoning remembrance resembles death, for abandoning it breeds heedlessness and distance from doing good, so that benefit becomes little or nonexistent, and this resembles the dead in that no benefit is drawn from it.