230 – Abu ʿAli al-Sufi related to me; I heard al-Ḥusayn ibn Mukhlad ibn Maymun say: A neighbour of ours—about whom no fault was known—died, and he instructed that the following be written on his grave:

“This is the abode of decay, while the Hereafter is the abode of recompense. Allah is the Most Merciful of the merciful. O You who are the Most Merciful of the merciful, have mercy on Your needy servant, destitute of everything but Your mercy—a mercy that will spare him the need for anyone else’s mercy. O You who are more merciful to me than my father and my mother, may Allah have mercy on whoever reads this and prays for good. Amen, Lord of all worlds.”

He went on: I also saw inscribed on a grave:

“O you whom wealth has made arrogant and whom the passions of this world have intoxicated, prepare for the great journey, for your descent among the people of decay is now at hand.”