Why Then Should I Fear Death?

I died to the mineral state and became a plant,
I died to the plant and rose to animal,
I died from animality and became human,
Why then should I fear death?
When have I become less by dying?
At the next stage I will die only to be transformed,
To soar on high among the angels.
But even from angelhood I will pass on:
"Everything perishes except God."
Once more I will sacrifice my angel state
To become at last what you could never imagine:
I shall become non-existence! "
Verily, unto Him we shall return."
The Masnawi, Volume III:3901-6