When the divine decree befell him, he felt within it a mercy from his Lord—decrees cannot be repelled.
The sky wept for him on the day he left, in sorrow, and down came rain and showers.
Greater Syria, its towns and its plains sobbed at his passing, and so did every other land.
Did you not behold him upon his bier, encircled by lights from his Lord?
The people—many of them weeping for him in aching grief(1), their tears streaming abundantly down their cheeks—
were thousands, a multitude none could number save Allah, the All-Forgiving, the All-Concealing.
They laid him to rest, radiant as a full moon in its brightness, and every region rejoiced at his arrival.
ʿAbd al-Ḥalīm and his grandfather rejoiced in him, as did his brother ʿAbd Allāh and the righteous.
For such a reward the God-fearing hasten; they attained what the elect have attained.
Allah will honour him with the finest mercy in a Garden beneath which rivers flow,
whose goblets stand ready, whose lofty domes are raised high, all encompassed by light;
whose cups are filled to the brim, whose palaces gleam while canopies shine above them;
whose platters are of silver, whose garments are of fine silk, and whose food is tender birds.
[ق 138] And the wide-eyed maidens in those pavilions are radiant with joy, yet forever remain untouched virgins—
devoted companions for the People of the Right. Oh, that we might be among them when we go where they have gone!
Reclining upon couches they behold their bliss, while the cup of pure nectar is passed round them(2).