An awareness of every benefit-bearing science—whether grounded in reason or received by transmission—was his inner garment among humankind;
while renunciation, worship, and God-fearing piety served as his outer cloak amid the lords of wealth.
⦗141⦘ And when the vainglorious flaunted the glitter of this world—though life itself is but disheveled and bedraggled—his was the truer pride. (1)
For the noblest of possessions is useful knowledge, not a hoarded dirham, nor a treasured dinar. (2)
If the pathways of sound judgment darkened because he now lies still, a beacon of his remembrance yet rises across the two horizons.
A grievous blow has indeed struck Islam, exalted as it is, yet the decrees of destiny can never be repelled.
Had any mortal been granted endless life upon this earth, Ahmad the Chosen would have been the one preserved.
Every living soul must one day shed the garment of life, knowing full well that the robe of existence is only on loan.
Where, then, is deliverance, when every creature is destined to die except the One God, the Singular, the All-Compelling? (3)
I am overwhelmed with sorrow at my separation from Ahmad; with his departure my longings remain unmet.
Were ransom possible, fortunes, children, and even our lifespans would be paltry offerings for his sake.
He was the magnet of human hearts, a source of intimate joy; yet in a scant few there lingered some recoil. (4)
Never did I imagine that on the day of his passing the guarded would be exposed and every veil rent.
Women hastened forth from behind their curtains in bereavement, and from secluded chambers emerged the full-bosomed virgins. (5)
People, like swarming locusts, pressed around his coffin, jostling for nearness and circling in dazed throngs.