The Renowned Islamic Scholar and Imam and Khateeb of Masjid Al Haram in Makkah Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim has retired following three decades of service to the Haram.
The 57-year-old Imam is known for his powerful and emotional recitation of the Holy Quran.
His retirement came after he led his final Prayer in Masjid Al Haram on 12 Rabi Al Awwal 1443.
Sheikh Shuraim has led Taraweeh prayers during Ramadan at the Grand Mosque since 1992 and had been serving as the Imam of the mosque since 1998.
Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim will be absent for the first time in Ramadan in 32 years since his appointment.
The Imam bid farewell in a personal poem written by himself.
صدح صوته الشجي في أرجاء الحرم منذ أكثر من 30 عاماً، ومنذ ذلك اليوم احتلّ مكانًا لا يليق إلا به، فأصبح ركنًا أساسيًّا من أركان الحرم، صوت لا يخلو من شجون الذكريات لأجيال عاصرت ذلك الصوت؛ …#سعود_الشريم #رمضان pic.twitter.com/pM9Y7o2skh
— Haramain Archive (@muslimmakkah) March 15, 2023
The following is the english translation of his farewell poem;
May Allah reward me with all the best and our rulers, For each duty from the obligations of my Imamat.
They are the people of virtue after the Guardian Lord (Allah), None will be rewarded by these position of the letters.
Whom I owe by hearing and obedience to the law,So that, by the Lord of the house, is my act and my mark.
On the path of honorable dear predecessors, In it there are good footsteps and fundament.
And in it there are strong towers in praise, That fortifies my purpose amongst people & my honour.
And that & Allah’s faith is a goal to victory, So the law of my Lord is my path and my cloud.
Thirty years & two more after it, 1 protected my religion, my name, &my material.
By Allah, how much I was truly touched by His closeness,
The vicinity of the House (Ka’bah) was the neck ring of the dove.
In the house of the Lord, the house of attachment and sufficient means, And in His house I removed my worries.
And my soul has always sought, desirous of the resort,
In the glorious Makkah, the complete residence.
I was thought of with goodness by every visitor, And I did not remove my turban for the bad one day.
Except that my Lord, cover me like you covered what passed, And do not disgrace me, O Lord, on the day of resurrection, And my Lord lay down the riders in the hereafter, In the heights of paradise (firdaws), the home of my position.
