A diagram he drew in the dirt
Four elements, and one of them runs off the edge.
هَذَا الإِنْسَانُ، وَهَذَا أَجَلُهُ مُحِيطٌ بِهِ ـ أَوْ قَدْ أَحَاطَ بِهِ ـ وَهَذَا الَّذِي هُوَ خَارِجٌ أَمَلُهُ، وَهَذِهِ الْخُطُطُ الصِّغَارُ الأَعْرَاضُ
Hādha-l-insān, wa hādhā ajaluhu muḥīṭun bih, wa hādha-lladhī huwa khārijun amaluh, wa hādhihi-l-khuṭuṭu-ṣ-ṣighāru-l-aʿrāḍ
“This is the human being. This is his term, enclosing him. This one going outside is his hope. And these small lines are the accidents.”
Where this comes from
He drew a square, a line through the middle running out past the edge, and small lines crossing it. If one of the small ones misses him, the next one bites him. The hope is the only line that leaves the box.
The full narration
Narrated `Abdullah:The Prophet (ﷺ) drew a square and then drew a line in the middle of it and let it extend outside the square and then drew several small lines attached to that central line, and said, "This is the human being, and this, (the square) in his lease of life, encircles him from all sides (or has encircled him), and this (line), which is outside (the square), is his hope, and these small lines are the calamities and troubles (which may befall him), and if one misses him, an-other will snap (i.e. overtake) him, and if the other misses him, a third will snap (i.e. overtake) him
Source
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī · 6417
- Agreed upon as authentic (al-Bukhārī / Muslim)