How many a path of scholarly investigation, once obscure, did he illumine, so that for the traveler it became a clear, level highway (1).
How often did an envious critic subject him to belittlement and abasement, yet he alone was singled out for superlative perfection and lofty elevation.
He turned away from this world in a praiseworthy state, never showing the least desire for its blameworthy glitter.
He lived until his death without permitting his soul to covet anything that this earthly abode contains.
A learned, God-fearing, humble Imām—before the awe he inspired, every gaze would drop in reverence.
A cloud of knowledge whose bounty cultivated the earth and clothed it in the wide-woven mantle of lucid expression.
With his virtues he brightened its many faces and set upon it the bejeweled diadem of lofty honor.
When the downpour of his grace had ceased, he left behind gardens for minds to stroll through and tilled fields in full bloom.
Such is the rain-cloud: whenever it (2) bestows its copious showers upon the thirsty soil and slakes its parchedness, it is only right that drought depart.
⦗ق 144⦘ By Allah, what a treasure have we lost! Apart from Allah Himself, we have never known one more beneficial to us.
We were enamored of him for Allah’s sake, leaving in our hearts no place for love of him except for the sake of Allah.
O Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad, my heart is ever shaken at the recollection of our parting (3),
until Allah shows me your unveiled face, resplendent on the Day of Return, gleaming in full splendor (4).