Think not of those who are killed in the Way of Allah as dead. Nay, they are alive, with their Lord, and they have provision. They rejoice in what Allah has bestowed upon them of His Bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not yet joined them, but are left behind [not yet martyred] that on them no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve.
The epitaph on the butt end of the finial of the Qusam ibn ‘Abbas grave-stone.
This is the grave of the son of the uncle of [the man who was] the lord of messengers [of Allah], the seals of the prophets, the messenger of the Lord of the worlds – peace be upon him! – the Amir of the faithful Qusam ibn ‘Abbas – may Allah have mercy on both of them, and bestow their intercession upon us! He died in 57 [676 – 677].
The second epitaph to Qusam ibn ‘Abbas begins in the right corner of the western plane of the tombstone (the lower step). It is very high-flown in style and contains a quote from the Koran. The places of the text’s passage from one plane to another are marked with double slash signs (//).
This is Paradise with lofty palaces in which appeasement [sets in] lighted up with the shine of rays, [with] rivers flowing out [as in the adage from the Koran] – «for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow» - and from each of their drops flow down the abundant power and contentment from Allah, the Most Great! And prepared this [Paradise] is for the master of the high assembly of martyrs, the pillar of justice, the paragon of law of the state of the Messenger of Allah, the leader of people Qusam ibn‘Abbas – may Allah be pleased with him and peace be upon him!
You can read more about the inscriptions on the buildings of the memorial ensemble in the book-album “Samarkand. Shakhi-Zinda” series “Architectural epigraphy of Uzbekistan”.
