On the day of my death, when my coffin is carried away,

Do not think that I suffer or feel pain in leaving this world.

Do not weep for me, nor say, “How tragic! What a loss!”

For if you fall into such sorrow, you have fallen into illusion— And that would be the real loss.

When you see my funeral, do not cry, “Separation! Separation!”

For me, that moment is not parting— It is the time of reunion and meeting with my Beloved.

When you lower me into the grave, do not say, “Farewell!”

For the grave is merely a veil,

Hiding the great gathering of souls in Paradise.

If you witness my descent into the earth,

Then look also at my rising!

Why should the setting of the sun and moon bring you sorrow?

To you, it may seem like a setting,

But in truth, it is a rising, a new dawn.

Though the grave appears like a prison,

It is, in reality, the soul’s liberation.

Has any seed ever been buried in the earth and not grown?

Then why do you doubt that the seed of man will not sprout again?

Has any bucket ever been lowered into a well

And not returned full of water?

Then why lament when the Joseph of the soul descends into the well?

When you close your mouth in this world,

Open it in the next,

For your cries of joy will echo

Through the realm beyond space and time.

Poem by Mawlana Jalaladdin Rumi