His daytime fasts pine for him, and in the darkness of night his cycles of remembrance yearn for his return.
Every form and category of speech weeps for him; even the most decisive, unequivocal word mourns and eulogizes him. (1)
He shielded himself from the world, remaining chaste out of noble self-respect; never did he bow his cheek to anything ignoble.
Not even two of its pleasures ever converged in his possession, and before all people his asceticism stood proven.
⦗155⦘ Though poor, he would still prefer others over himself, content with little; and in every affair it was the hardest course that pleased him most.
He was a master of the abrogated hadiths and their rulings, and of the abrogating reports as well—the pride and glory of his age.
A man of word and deed, noble in nature and pure, an Imam whose judgment in every matter was the most sound. (2)
Never did he utter folly or follow caprice, nor did he swerve from a truth once its guidance had become clear.
His sciences spread, in every field, like musk (3) diffusing its fragrance; they strengthened and renewed the religion of the Chosen Prophet.
By Allah, what excellence the earth now encloses! Let his grave boast over all the soil for what it holds within.
O bier, what burden have you carried—a man who contained within him the sum of all humankind, yet who, upon your boards, lay incomparable and alone.
He has not died who leaves behind writings that endure after him, for knowledge and virtue are his offspring. (4)
He bequeathed fine and praiseworthy legacies which, when counted, exceed whatever tally we may devise. (5)
I am unable to set all that forth in detail; even in summary its full extent defies enumeration.