Seventy Thousand Angels Escort the One Who Escorts a Believer to His Grave

Said by: Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (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 2.

Arabic — core saying (excerpt):

مَنْ شَيَّعَ جَنَازَةَ مُؤْمِنٍ حَتَّى يُدْفَنَ فِي قَبْرِهِ، وَكَّلَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ بِهِ سَبْعِينَ أَلْفَ مَلَكٍ مِنَ الْمُشَيِّعِينَ يُشَيِّعُونَهُ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُونَ لَهُ إِذَا خَرَجَ مِنْ قَبْرِهِ إِلَى الْمَوْقِفِ

English translation:

"For one who escorts the dead body of a believing person until it is buried, Allah, the Most High, assigns seventy thousand angels of the escorting ones to escort him and ask forgiveness for him, from the time he is taken out of his grave to the station (for Judgment)."

Explanation: Walk with a believer's funeral today, and on the Day of Judgement seventy thousand angels will walk with you. The kindness is repaid many times over, at the very moment when everyone needs company and forgiveness most. Helping bury a believer is a small act that buys a great escort.