Reference: Siyar A’laam an-Nubalaa v12 p492
[In preparation for their burial], would wash the dead as an act of worship, and he would say:
‘I endured [the experience of] washing [the bodies of] the dead – [intending by doing so] to soften my heart, until it softened.’
And he was the one who washed [the body of al-Imaam] ash-Shaafi’ee رحمه الله.
