Thousands raised for refugee pictured selling pens while holding sleeping daughter

His face says it all.

Thousands of dollars have been raised in just a few hours for a Palestinian refugee in Beirut after a photo of him trying to sell pens while holding his sleeping daughter went viral online.

The photo was shared on Twitter by Gissur Simonarson from Iceland, and it attracted a huge amount of attention, with many wondering how they could help the man.

Photo via Gissur Simonarson/Twitter

Simonarson launched a Twitter account called #BuyPens and was able to identify the man just 24 hours later thanks to a follower in Lebanon who said he sees him everyday.

Finally found him =) Been a lot of work, but it was worth it! Now lets help them!https://t.co/Fcg59KTbbh pic.twitter.com/SjIDmytCeG

— Gissur Simonarson (@GissiSim) August 27, 2015

The man's name is Abdul and he is a single father to his four-year-old daughter, Reem and a nine-year-old son, Abdelillah. They are believed to be Palestinian Syrians from the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus.

وضع منزل بائع الأقلام في بيروت .. فريق ملهم تكفل بالعائلة .. يلي بحب يساعد يتواصل معنا #فريق_ملهم_التطوعي pic.twitter.com/oYFc148S51

— Molham Team | فريق ملهم التطوعي (@molhamteam) August 27, 2015

An Indiegogo fundraising page was set up with a goal of $5,000. At time of writing, the page has raised an amazing $44,210 (€39,200) in just 16 hours.

I think that this campaign proves that humanity is not lost just yet =) #BuyPens

— Gissur Simonarson (@GissiSim) August 27, 2015

Gissur Simonarson told The Independent: "I'm now in touch with Unicef special protection unit to help get him to a safe location, and make sure he will not be taken advantage of.

"I'm also considering setting up some kind of fund that would give him payouts monthly, so he doesn't end up with a bag of money, and not know what to do with it."

You can donate to the campaign here