169 – Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn narrated to me; he said: Zakariyya ibn Abī Khālid narrated to us; he said: al-Ḥasan ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Mujālid narrated to me:

A young man set out to seek worldly gain, but prosperity eluded him, so he wrote to his mother:

I shall amass wealth, or else be laid in an earthly tomb,
Where no torrent of tears will pour in lament;
No frantic mourner, scorched by grief for the bereaved,
Nor any one I love will be standing near,
Save that some passer-by, himself a stranger, may one day see my grave,
And, seeing a stranger’s grave, perhaps he too will weep.

The letter arrived after his mother had died, so his aunt answered him, saying:

You have recalled past days and let a tear fall;
You have roused sorrows—and that is truly strange.
If longing drives you to us, we are parched for you,
While every beloved heart is bowed with grief.
What mother can show you tender care
When you refuse to stay beneath her gaze and live as a stranger?
Surely the One who sends you your provision while you are far away
Will grant it to you when, alive, you are near.