We have heard and we have obeyed

On the authority of al-Asma‘ī, that he said, “I was once walking in the village when I came across a stone. Someone had written on it:

أيا معشر العشاق بالله خبروا **** إذا حل عشق بالفتى كيف يصنع

O lovers! By Allah, tell me!
If a young man is overcome by love, what should he do?

So I wrote underneath it:

يداوي هواه ثم يكتم سره **** ويخشع في كل الأمور ويخضع

Let him treat his desire, then conceal his secret
And humble himself in every matter and submit (before his Lord)

I returned the next day and I found written underneath it:

فكيف يداوي والهوى قاتل الفتى **** وفي كل يوم قلبه يتقطع

But how can it be treated when that desire fights the man
And every day his heart is torn to pieces?!

So I wrote underneath it:

إذا لم يجد صبراً لكتمان سره **** فليس له شيء سوى الموت أنفع

If he is unable to be patient with concealing his secret
Then there is nothing for him except death that will benefit!

I then returned on the third day to find a young man lying dead at the stone. I said, ‘Lā hawla wa lā quwwata illā billāhil-‘Alī’l-‘Adhīm!’ and found that he had written before his death:

سمعنا , أطعنا , ثم متنا فبلغوا **** سلامي إلى من كان للوصل يمنع

We have heard and we have obeyed; now we have died so tell everyoneMy salām to the one who prevented me from attaining her.

(Narrated by al-Abshīhī in al-Mustatrif, 1/410)