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He who died at Azan sends This to comfort all his friends:- Faithful friends! It lies I know Pale and white and cold as snow; And ye say, 'Abdallah's dead!' Weeping at the feet and head. I can see your falling tears, I can hear your sighs and prayers; Yet I smile and whisper this: I am not the thing you kiss. Cease your tears and let it lie; It was mine-it is not I.

Edwin Arnold#1

SpiritualityFriendshipSadness

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker offers a poetic consolation that a deceased friend’s spirit is not to be mourned, urging acceptance of loss.
In plain terms
Accept the death of a friend without prolonged grief.
What can you take from it?
Let go of sorrow and recognize the departed’s independence.

Where it applies

  • funeral rites
  • personal loss

Putting it to work

  • practice mindful mourning

Questions to consider

  • How can we balance mourning with moving forward?

Another view

The poetic language may not resonate with all cultures.

More from Edwin Arnold

  1. We are the voices of the wandering wind, Which moan for rest and rest can never find; Lo! as the wind is, so is mortal life, A moan, a sigh, a sob, a storm, a …

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  2. Below the highest sphere four Regents sit Who rule our world, and under them are zones Nearer, but high, where saintliest spirits dead Wait thrice ten thousand…

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  3. Now, when our Lord was come to eighteen years, The King commanded that there should be built Three stately houses, one of hewn square beams With cedar lining, …

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