The funeral prayer was performed over him after noon that day—a prayer the like of which Unayzah had never witnessed before. May Allah bestow His boundless mercy upon him and admit him into the highest level of Paradise.
Numerous elegies were composed for him. His death left an immense void in the hearts of his townspeople and Muslims alike. Only upon his death did people realize the sheer extent of the work he had carried out, the burdens he had borne, and the private charity through which he had regularly cared for the poor of his town. What a remarkable man he was! How great was his influence upon the people, and how excellent his reputation among them!
He who spread virtue and piety has not died,
But raised a towering edifice whose foundation cannot be broken.1
(1) This biographical sketch is abridged from the biography by Dr. Abd Allah al-Tayyār that prefaces his book *Fiqh al-Shaykh al-Sa‘dī*, and from Shaykh Muhammad ibn Sulaymān al-Bassām’s introduction to *al-Ta‘līq wa Kashf al-Niqāb*, with additional material. For further information, see his biography in *Ulamā’ Najd*, vol. 2, p. 422; *Rawdat al-Nāzirīn*, vol. 1, p. 220; *Sīrat al-Allāma al-Sa‘dī*; an article by al-Adawī in the *Journal of the Islamic University*, year 11, no. 4, p. 205; *Mashāhīr Ulamā’ Najd*, p. 396; and “Detailed Studies on al-Sa‘dī,” a series of articles by Dr. Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Rumayyān published in *al-Jazīrah* newspaper during Shawwāl 1421 AH. See also the introductions to the shaykh’s works, which contain various biographical accounts written by his students and admirers.