Said by: Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (as)
Status: ✅ Verified reference
Reference: Al-Kafi (Shaykh al-Kulayni), Volume 3, Kitab al-Jana'iz (Book of Funerals), Chapter 43 (The Reward for Walking in a Funeral Procession), Hadith 1.
Arabic:
إِذَا أُدْخِلَ الْمُؤْمِنُ قَبْرَهُ نُودِيَ: أَلَا إِنَّ أَوَّلَ حِبَائِكَ الْجَنَّةُ، وَحِبَاءَ مَنْ تَبِعَكَ الْمَغْفِرَةُ
English translation:
"When a believing person is placed in his grave, it is announced: 'Paradise is the first gift for you, and forgiveness is the gift for those who have escorted you.'"
Explanation: The grave is a frightening thought — but for a believer, the first word he hears there is good news. Paradise itself is announced as his gift, and the people who buried him are forgiven too. The grave, which Hadith 10.1 called the first station of the Hereafter, begins for the believer with welcome, not with punishment.
The grave is a frightening thought — but for a believer, the first word he hears there is good news.