وقال عليه السلام :
When the news of the death of (Malik) al-Ashtar (may Allah have mercy on him),
وقد جاءه نعي الاْشتر رحمه الله:
reached Amir al-mu'minin, peace be upon him, he said:
مَالكٌ وَمَا مَالِكٌ!
Malik, what a man Malik was!
وَاللهِ لَوْ كَانَ جَبَلاً لَكَانَ فِنْداً،
By Allah, if he had been a mountain he would have been a great one (find),
وَلَوْ كَانَ حَجَراً لَكَانَ صَلْداً،
and if he had been a stone he would have been hard;
لاَ يَرْتَقِيهِ الْحَافِرُ،
no horseman could have reached it
وَلاَ يُوفِي عَلَيْهِ الطَّائِرُ.
and no bird could have flown over it.
قال الرضي: الفند: المنفرد من الجبال.
Sayyid ar-Razi says: “Find” means a lonely mountain (rising in height above the others in the range).
