As the verdict was delivered, Anwar turned and hugged his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
He then turned to his son, who was seen nodding his head at something that Anwar told him. Anwar then kissed his grandchildren.
"Remember what I told you, you must go to school," Anwar told his grandson.
His lips quivering, Anwar also hugged his daughters who were in tears.
His daughter, Lembah Pantai MP, Nurul Izzah, cried when Anwar kissed her forehead. Anwar also kissed his wife's forehead.
Dr Wan Azizah's father, Wan Ismail Wan Mahmood, was also in tears. "You have to be strong," Dr Wan Azizah was heard telling her father.
Anwar kept assuring his family and other Pakatan Rakyat leaders hugging him that he was all right.
He was overheard telling one of them, "I knew it was bad".
Many of his supporters were crying in court. Patron for people's movement, Negara-ku, Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan was seen comforting Dr Wan Azizah while DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng gave Anwar a bear hug.
Anwar also waved to the media and said "see you in some years".
The court was then adjourned for one hour following an application from Anwar's lead counsel Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram.
The mood outside the court room was sombre as many tried to hold back tears.
A tearful Elizabeth Wong, who is Selangor exco member, was heard telling supporters to "go see the boss". Anwar was later seen consoling a supporter who was crying uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, outside the court complex, supporters of both Anwar and Saiful Bukhari Azlan were told to disperse. Riot police could be seen getting ready to control the crowd and to prevent any untoward incident.
Anwar's supporters asked for permission to see their leader for one last time and started moving to the back of the court complex.
One of Anwar's lawyers, Ramkarpal Singh, told reporters the defence would be seeking a lower sentence.
Anwar, 68, is staring at a five-year jail sentence meted out by the Court of Appeal, which in March last year overturned High Court's decision to acquit him of sodomising his former aide, Saiful.
The prosecution has filed a cross-appeal for an enhanced sentence, which could stretch up to 20 years.
Anwar, the PKR de facto leader, will lose his Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat if he is fined more than RM2,000 or jailed for more than a year and does not receive a free pardon.
Lawyer Shailender Bhar who followed proceedings outside court through Twitter said he was "surprised" by the verdict by the bench.
"The submission presented by the defence suggest ed Anwar will be freed," he said.
Another lawyer Ramesh Sivakumar said this decision had altered some of the fundamental legal principles in sexual offence cases.
"The courts can now on completely disregard any need for corroborative evidence" he said.
In this case, he said although Saiful's credibility was shattered, yet the bench ruled he was a reliable witness.
"To my mind, the bench has set dangerous precedent on sexual offences which is easy to allege by a complaint but difficult to prove innocence by accused," he added.
The former deputy prime minister's legal battle in the second sodomy case began in August 7, 2008, when he was charged with sodomising his former aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, at an apartment in Damansara.
The High Court had in January 2012, acquitted Anwar, but this was overturned by the Court of Appeal in March last year.
The first sodomy case against Anwar was in 1998, after he was sacked from the government.
He was then accused of sodomising his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's former driver Azizan Abdul Razak but was acquitted in a 2- 1 majority ruling by the Federal Court in 2004.
