The Supplicant

The Supplicant

My demolished grave in which are piled up [^1]

Seventy-nine dead Said’s [^2] with his sins and sorrows.

The eightieth is a gravestone to a grave;

Altogether they weep at Islam’s decline. [^3]

Together with my gravestone and moaning grave of dead Said’s

I go forward to the field of tomorrow’s future.

I am certain that the skies of the future and Asia

Will together surrender to Islam’s clean, shining hand.

For it romises the prosperity of belief;

It affords peace and security to mankind.

[^1]:This line is his signature.

[^2]:Since the body is renewed twice every year, it means that [each year] two Said’s have died. Also, this year Said is in his seventy-ninth year. It means one Said has died every year, so that he will live to this date. [Bediuzzaman died in 1379 according to the Hijri calendar, and his grave was demolished and moved in 1380. -Tr.]

[^3]:With a premonition of the future, he perceived its present state, twenty years later.