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Ruzbihan Baqli – The Unveiling of Secrets – The Diary of a Sufi Master [translated by Carl Ernst]

38. The Death of a Friend

One of my companions died. I saw a desert beyond the seven heavens, made of red clay, filled with the dead, lying on their shrouds.

I said, "What is this desert?"

They said, "This is the place of the martyrs of God and his pure ones."

I saw a funeral bier borne on the shoulders of the angels; they brought it and put it down. I saw the Truth (glory be to him who is transcendent) praying over it-God most high was praying over all of them.

I asked, "Who is this person?"

They said, "Your companion."

I wept bitterly for he was a youth from among us. Then I saw him on a wall of the orchards in paradise, and I said, "Master! What are you doing?"

He spread his hands and built a wall from blue sapphires, saying, "I am preparing your house and your orchards in paradise."