Alas for That Hour

Lord, at that hour when no one will remember us, let your mercy be our companion until the Day of Reckoning. The book of the righteous is filled with good deeds. What am I to do? My own pages hold nothing but blackness. This flawed merchandise that fills my days, on the day of its market there is nothing but loss to your name. The feast day has come; give us the gift of your mercy, Lord. If you do not give, from whom shall your hopeless servants ask? Do not turn us away, Lord. Back in the market of eternity you saw all our faults and left us disappointed. At night I put the rope around my neck and weep bitterly, grieving for my precious life that I threw to the wind. Now, living so long without him, I do not know how I will surrender my soul when death arrives. Alas for that hour when the angel of death comes for the soul: I must give up my sweet life and cannot open my lips. What will he do with me at the final breath? Alas, alas. Happy is the one whose mother never bore him. They read the record, and the recording angels say: in his whole life this servant never held any fear of God in mind. Have a crier call out before my coffin: here is a servant who sinned much yet trusted in God. Lord, forgive the one who, after my death, remembers my soul now and then with a prayer of praise. If you pass by my grave, or if I come to your mind, offer this prayer: Lord, may his grave be full of light. He will have mercy on me, he will forgive me, when I lay my pale face upon the dust of the tomb. Though Mohyi has done much wrong and has no goodness, still with all his heart he trusts in the mercy shown to the righteous.