A calamity that has deafened every ear in creation; the irrevocable decree had fixed it long before it came to pass.

A loss too great for tears, for nowhere in the whole world is there a misfortune more immense.

The eloquent tongue itself shrinks from mentioning it in awe, even as within the hearts its magnitude only swells and grows (1).

A blow before which the stars collapsed and the sun of guidance was rolled up (2); dawn itself was turned into a pitch-black night.

So crushing was its weight, so grievous its shock, that even Quss and Aktham (3) were left without words.

Yet the decree must run its course in all that the Lord of the heavens decides and ordains (4).

The matter is far too weighty for a passionate lover—whose very life-essence is melting and wounded—to give it its due (5).

This disaster is far beyond what grief can cure; this calamity transcends anything that is known (6).

Each soul wards off its death as best it can, until the painful end takes it by surprise (7).

⦗ق 158⦘ It has exhausted humankind, and there is for it no refuge to shelter them in tribulation and protect them (8).