Chapter# 13: Death and Funeral of Sheikh Ali
Five years passed from the return of the company to Damascus, when Sheikh Ali
fell sick of his last illness; for he was aged, and his strength failed day by
day. Sheikhs Mahmoud, Ahmed al-Hady, Ahmed Effendi, and other friends attended
him, one or other of them hardly ever leaving his bedside. He did not care for
any reading but the Gospel, nor any talk but about our Saviour. In his hours of
weakness, when no one was near, he might be heard repeating such words as these:
"He died for me, His love and grace their height and depth; redeemed and saved.
Oh, when shall I then see Him?" And no one left his bedside without his having
said something to them of Jesus.
On the day of his death there gathered around his bed a group of Muslims, men of
learning and rank in the city. He raised himself to receive them; then, after
they had all sat down for a little, Sheikh Abd ul-Hamid, Imam of the Omeyyad
Mosque, spoke as follows: "Oh Sheikh Ali, my old friend and loved companion, if
I say a word to you about returning to us, can you bear it, out of love for me?
It shall be very short."
"Speak on my honoured friend," said Sheikh Ali.
"My dearest Sheikh, I remember with delight those precious days we used to spend
together in masque or college, talking about social and spiritual matters. Seven
years have passed since then; and now you are removed far from me in faith and
worship. But friendship remains. The separation has been grievous to me all
these days; and now you are about to depart to the world beyond. Call to mind, I
beg you, the blessed Quran, and that which our Lord has revealed therein; and
from the ways of error into which you have wandered all these years. Return unto
the faith of the Lord and his Prophet, and you shall obtain pardon through the
intercession of the chief of the prophets, and entrance into the paradise of
delight and peace. Receive the prayer of one who loves you as his own soul, and
your example may bring back those others who have erred like you. You shall thug
obtain a great reward, and turn my sorrow into joy and peace."
During this address Sheikh Ali at times smiled, and at other limes looked
serious and troubled. His friends around him were much distressed; and one
thought to answer for him, but held back, as it seemed hardly what he would
like. At last the aged Sheikh raised himself on his couch, and answered: "Yes,
my dear and honoured friend, I have come to the end of my journey here. And I
thank my God, who has sent you to me, that I might bid you a last farewell, with
words I have long wished to speak to you. I ask you to listen with patience, and
with the affection of so generous a friend; for, be assured; my concern for your
welfare is not legs than yours for me."
He then went briefly over the manner in which he had been led by various
passages in the Quran to study the Scriptures, in which he found peace. He urged
his friend to read the same with an honest and open mind, when he, too, would
find Jesus to be the Saviour the WORD of the living God. He had himself been a
strict follower of Islam, and devoted, even more than his friend, to its system
of good works as a means of acceptance and salvation. Like his friend, he used
to look on the Bible as having been tampered with; but, in company with others
of his friends, after careful sitting of the evidence, they had found it to be
beyond doubt genuine, and been led thereby into the straight path the path of
everlasting life.
"And now," he ended, "my journey has come to a close. I do not fear death, for
my Saviour has stripped it of its horrors and its sting.
He shall change this vile body into a glorious one at His coming in the clouds;
and with these very eyes I shall see His glorious face. Darkness will hardly
have overshadowed the earth this night before I shall be in that blessed
paradise where there is no night; for the night of grief and weeping, of toil
and warfare, will have given place to the morning of light and joy. But a few
minutes more, and the sun of glory will have arisen upon me. I beg of you, my
friends, I beg you, my dearest Sheikh, to take it as my last request, a sacred
trust, in return for all four love and care, that you redeem the time by
studying the Bible, which God has sent to be the guide of faith and life; the
Book to which the Quran bears witness, and which will enrich its followers with
divine grace and favour."
His heart was moved with emotion as he spoke, and the tears rolled down his
cheeks upon his beard. All present were hushed as he ended the affectionate
appeal, and amazed at his noble attitude and heavenly presence, full of peace
and joy. They sat silent around his couch, unable to leave it till the end was
near. Then, seeing numbers of his Christian friends and ministers arrive, they
rose and silently slipped away.
After the sons of Omar the martyr returned from Lebanon, the exiles did
everything in their power to gel charge of them, especially Ali and Mahmoud,
whom their father had constituted their guardians; but failed. The boys remained
under charge of their uncles, who placed them in the Rashidi College. Now, on
Ali falling sick, their mother visited him, and sat in much sorrow by his
bedside. The aged man spoke comfortably to her, and also reminded her of her
husband's desire as to the guardianship of her boys. At this she wept.
"Blessing on his dear eyes!" she exclaimed, as she wiped away her tears. "I wish
not that there should be anything not in accord with his request; but you know,
my honoured sir, that it is not within my power to make complete fulfillment of
its terms."
"I know it well," answered Ali, "but, please God, your sons will not be left or
be forgotten by Him."
Then he began to speak wisely and kindly to her about the Christian faith, and
the hope of the life to come, which had led their little company to give up all
worldly comfort, and her husband life itself for the same. She became much
affected, for she was a wise and thoughtful woman; nor had she forgotten what
her husband had taught her, especially in his last days. She listened carefully
to all, and asked the Sheikh many appropriate questions as to our Saviour's
history and teaching, which he answered with much feeling and delight. Then she
took hold of both his hands, and thanking him for his kind and loving words,
kissed them, and said that, please God, she would embrace the Christian faith,
follow in the path of her husband, and use all her strength to bring up her sons
in the same. Then, as she rose to go, he slipped into her hand a little purse of
golden dinars. At first she declined to take it, but he pressed her, saying, "It
is for your own dear boys." So she took it thankfully, and departed; and the
Sheikh had full confidence that she would fulfill what she had said.
Now, after her husband's death, many of the citizens had sought her hand, and
though some of them were among the rich and noble, she refused. She was young
and fair to look upon, and one of the most discreet and attractive women in the
city. So, after she had gone away, the Sheikh called his brother Hasan, who was
unmarried, and left it as his last wish that he should try to engage her
affections and take her as his wife, when she had embraced the Christian faith,
and so bring up her sons as his own. This Hasan promised to do.
We now return to the death-bed of the Sheikh, after the departure of his Muslim
friends. The interview and his earnest address to the imam had left him very
weak, and he lay quiet and restful thereafter for about an hour. The pulse and
strength began gradually to sink, and he thought that he would die at sunset.
After a little he revived, and called his sons and daughters to his bedside. As
they stood around he said with a firm voice, "My brother, and dear children,
calls to mind how, throughout my life, I have sought patiently and kindly to
guide you, both in the things of this life and of that which is to come. When
your mother died, I did not take another wife, lest she might have been unkind
to you, and perhaps to me also because of my love for you. Forget not your
father's affection and labour for you. I bless the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who has called me through the knowledge of His Son into His
blessed kingdom, that He has given me before my death the desire of my heart, to
see my brother, and my children, following the Saviour. And now I die happy, in
the hope of meeting you in the kingdom of rest and joy above. But there is one
thing above all others which I charge you with"; (pointing to the Bible that lay
on his table) "bring the Bible to me," and they brought it. "This priceless
treasure wherein are the words of eternal life, I leave with you. It is the best
inheritance. All else passes away; but the Word of the Lord abides for ever.
Amen."
Then, after giving much advice, he warned them lest they should be seduced by
the world and its temptations; and he begged them to live in peace and love
among themselves, and also with those outside, and ended thus: "Now the God of
peace and love, who has called me, and watched over me, and kept me from evil
even unto this day, bless you and forward you in all godly and holy living,
according to His good pleasure, and grant us to meet at last in the kingdom of
His glory. Amen. Amen."
They all wept, and embraced him, and kissed his hands; and he, too, kissed them.
And they promised that they would strive to live according to the Gospel, and
never forget his precious last words. And he rejoiced greatly thereat; and again
pressed them to his bosom and kissed them.
Then he turned to the Christian friends and brethren who now crowded around him.
"My companions and comrades in the Christian warfare, with whom I have lived in
all brotherly comfort and love! I rejoice exceedingly in calling to mind your
steadfast- ness and the good fight you have fought against the temptations of
the world and the deceits of the flesh, and all the hostility and opposition
around us; the help also you have been to many, to your own households, friends,
and especially unto me. Thanks be unto God, who has called us unto His eternal
kingdom. And now, brethren, and beloved friends, the time of separation has
come; for I go to my Saviour, and shall behold with my own eyes what I have
until now known by faith alone; and you see me rejoicing in this hope through
the merits of my Saviour. May you have a long and prosperous life, to the glory
of God, and may we all meet hereafter in the everlasting kingdom of our Father!
And I have the hope that you will look with an eye of affection on these your
brother's children around my bed, with all needful advice and care for their
godly upbringing. Now, draw near unto me, brethren, that I may bid you
farewell." So they drew near and embraced and kissed him, and he kissed them,
saying, "May the Lord have you in His holy keeping, my beloved friends, and give
you to finish your journey in peace and joy!" Then they departed all in deep
distress.
When they had gone, Sheikh Mahmoud said: "Dear friend, you must be weak and
weary after so much speaking. We pray the Lord, if it be His will, to restore
you to health that you may yet live to His glory here. But if it be not His
will, and you precede us to the heavenly rest, then God bless you; and our hope
is, by the merits of our Saviour, to meet you in that blessed land where there
is no more parting, sorrow, or pain. Your brother and your children will be
watched over by our Father. To Him be praise that they are followers of the
Saviour, in all virtue and godly endeavour. We hold them as our very own brother
and children; and shall regard it as one of our sacred duties to attend to them
in all that may require our care. Let your heart on that point be set at ease."
Ali gave his heartfelt thanks. "The Lord calls me, and I long to go and see Him.
Pray not, therefore, for my recovery and return to this world's life; but praise
the Lord, and bless His holy name."
Then he drew up his feet into the bed; after that he could not speak for over an
hour, and tossed about as one that is tossed at sea. But this passed, and then
he lay still and quiet with the marks of peace and comfort on his aged face. At
times he looked as if his lips were moving with a smile. Finally, he opened his
eyes and said, yes, Lord; here I am, ready"; and then for a time again, after a
little, in a low but clear and peaceful voice, these words: "Oh Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit." And so, at last, he gave up the ghost, and his spirit
returned unto God his Saviour.
Seeing that he was gone, they all gathered round his bed with loud crying. When
news of his death had been publicized, crowds of his friends, Muslims as well as
Christians, surrounded his door, all equally mourning his decease; for he was a
man greatly beloved for his generous life, and his benevolent and noble bearing.
Moreover, although his conversion had grievously pained the Muslim community,
the greater part, and not merely his intimate friends and companions, retained
their regard and affection for him. When the news of his death reached the
authorities, they resolved on sending a guard to accompany the funeral to the
burial-ground, lest anything should occur on the way. So an officer was deputed,
with a company of fifty gendarmes to go in front of the bier.
Now his family and friends all helped in preparing the body for the burial, and
wept as they placed it in the winding-sheet, and so upon the bier. On the
following day, about the sixth hour, the procession was formed. First went the
military escort, next the clergy, ministers, and chief officials of the various
Christian churches; then the bier, and behind it the family of the deceased,
with the other friends and relatives following; then an immense crowd of all
religions. The procession passed along to the Evangelical church, into which the
bier was carried and reverently placed. Then one of the clergymen went up to the
pulpit, and after reading a passage from the Gospel, gave a touching address on
the life of the deceased, and the victory he had won, from the text: "I heard a
voice from heaven saying to me, 'Write, "Blessed are the dead who die in the
Lord from now on.'" yes,' said the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their
labours and their works follow them'" (Revelalion 14:13). A marvellous calm
hushed into stillness that great gathering of all races and religions. The
address ended. There followed a hymn of praise to God, and then the bier was
again lifted, and carried to the Christian cemetery, where, in the presence of
all, it was committed with honour and reverence to the dust.
The brothers and sons of Ali placed a beautiful monument over the grave, with
the dates of birth and death, and that also of his embracing the Christian
faith. Various verses were added from the Gospel which he had been fond of
repeating; and in large letters of gold, these words, which he uttered with his
expiring breath: "Oh Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."
Most of Ali's companions, mentioned in this story, lived long after his decease
in perfect freedom and peace, drawing many by their life and example, of various
faiths and races, to believe in the Gospel. And in the end they all died in the
Lord, leaving behind them, as a precious legacy to their families and friends,
the memory of a Christian life and conversation.
And lastly, we should not fail to mention that the request of Sheikh Ali, to
seek in marriage the hand of Mariam, widow of the martyr Omar, was fulfilled.
With their mother he took also her two sons to his house; and they all lived in
peace and happiness many years, advancing in knowledge, virtue, and piety all
the days of their lives.