The Glorious Hereafter
"Say to my friends when they look upon me as dead,
Weeping for me and mourning me in sorrow,
Do not believe that this corpse you see is myself;
In the name of Allah, I tell you, it is not I.
I am a Rooh(soul); this is naught but flesh;
It was my abode and my garment for a time;
I am a treasure by a talisman(ta'weedh) kept hid,
Fashioned of dust which served me as a shrine,
I am a pearl, which has left it's shell deserted;
It was my prison, where I spent my time in grief.
I am a bird, and this body was my cage,
Whence I have now flown forth and it is left behind as a token
Praise be to Allah, Who has now set me free
And prepared for me my place in the highest of the heavens
Until today I was dead, though alive in your midst.
Now I am in birth, with the grave clothes discarded;
Today I hold converse with the saints above.
Now, with no evil between, I see Allah Face to Face;
I look upon the Tablet(Lowhum Mahfooz) and therein I read,
Whatever was and is and all that is to be.
Let my house fall in ruins, lay my cage in the ground,
Cast away the talisman, it's a token no more;
Lay aside my cloak, it was but my outer garment;
Place them all in the grave, let them be forgotten;
I have passed on my way and you are left behind;
Your place of abode was no dwelling place for me;
Think not that death is death, nay it is life,
A life that surpasses all we could dream of here
While in this world. Here we are granted sleep.
Death is but sleep, sleep that shall be prolonged;
Be not afrightened when death draweth nigh;
It is but the departure for this Blessed Home;
Think of the Mercy and Love of your Lord,
Give thanks for His Grace and come without fear.
What I am now, even so shall you be,
For I know that you are even as I am.
The souls of all men came from Allah.
The bodies of all are compounded alike;
Good and evil alike it was ours;
I give you now a message of good cheer;
May Allah's peace and joy forever more be yours."
By: Imam Al Ghazzaali, (Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Tusi Al Shafii) : 1058-1111 A.D.
