With deepest feelings of sympathy we mark the passing of Waldo van Essen, a longtime pillar of the Sufi work in South Africa and internationally. Waldo was blessed with a genuine attitude of friendship, and he will be missed by all who knew him. The International Sufi Movement extends sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to all the Sufi community in South Africa which he served with steadfast devotion and great energy for so many years. May his spirit be received by the One with loving compassion.

The Rumi poem below was chosen by Waldo for his memorial service, and the audio recording is the eulogy given at that time by his sister Magda Alberts.

When I die
when my coffin
is being taken out
you must never think
i am missing this world

don’t shed any tears
don’t lament or
feel sorry
i’m not falling
into a monster’s abyss

when you see
my corpse is being carried
don’t cry for my leaving
i’m not leaving
i’m arriving at eternal love

when you leave me
in the grave
don’t say goodbye
remember a grave is
only a curtain
for the paradise behind

you’ll only see me
descending into a grave
now watch me rise
how can there be an end
when the sun sets or
the moon goes down

it looks like the end
it seems like a sunset
but in reality it is a dawn
when the grave locks you up
that is when your soul is freed
– Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi –