Sarojini Naidu: The Imam Bara

I

Out of the somber shadow,

Over the sunlit grass,

Slow in a sad procession

The shadowy pageants pass

Mournful, majestic, and solemn,

Stricken and pale and dumb,

Crowned in their peerless anguish

The sacred martyrs come.

Hark, from the brooding silence

Breaks the wild cry of pain

Wrung from the heart of the ages

Ali! Hassan! Hussain!

II

Come from this tomb of shadows,

Come from this tragic shrine

That throbs with the deathless sorrow

Of a long-dead martyr line.

Love! Let the living sunlight

Kindle your splendid eyes

Ablaze with the steadfast triumph

Of the spirit that never dies.

So may the hope of new ages Comfort the mystic pain That cries from the ancient silence Ali! Hassan!Hussain!*

Imam Bara.?Imambara ,Imaumbara ,Eemaumberra = A building maintained by the Shia Muslims for the express purpose of celebrating theMuhurrum ceremonies, to which they bring theirTazias andTaboots .? in Lewis, Sahibs, Nabobs, andBoxwallahs : A Dictionary of the Words of Anglo- India, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1991.

* Naidu, TheSceptred Flute: Songs of India, pp. 152-153.

W. C. Tailor: An Ode

Tell me friends what shall you say

On the awful Judgment Day

When Mohammad asks you where

Are those trusted to you care?

Dearer than a thousand lives?

Bound by many a fastening chain

Some in dungeons dark remain,

OnKerbala's barren strand

Others lie, areaking band.

Torn with wounds andstain'd with mud

Weltering in their own heart's blood.

When before the Judgment seat

You the Holy Prophet meet,

He shall ask. If thus you show

The gratitude you justly owe,

For all the benefitsbestow'd

By whom whose bounty freely flow'd.*

*Khurshed , ed., Imam Husain, 2nd ed., p. 158.

Anonymous: Vision ofKerbala

Here's the tale of my nightly trance

The Vision of Karbala in a deathly dance

When a Martyr great faced the lance,

Of shamefulShimr for Islam to enhance,

No war of weapons or battles' sound

Equals this tragedy all world round,

No hero hooked to holiness stood

With such head held high without shelter or food.

His trumpetspake not to an armed throng

But to seventy-two saints, the celestial strong

They all sang their heavenly song

Giving their all to avenge a wrong.

Satanicsceptres arranged with awful eye

This orgy of blood without a sigh

While our Sovereign Lord was passing by

In scorching sand to answer people's cry.

For Islam's unity he surrendered his head

With his darling children he nobly fed

The starvingUmmat on its death-bed

Because through sacrifice are nations made!*

*Khurshed , ed., Imam Husain, 2nd ed., p. 156.

L. 4.?Shimr ?, full name ?Shimr b. Dh? al-Jawshan ?, was the most notorious figure in the Ashura incident. His real name wasShurahb?l b. ?Amr b. Mu??w?yyah . He symbolizes cruelty and atrocity because he was reportedly the person who decapitated Imam al-Husain.

He instigated and dispatched his men to attack and plunder the tents on Imam al-Husain's front. L. 10.Although ? seventy-two saints? refers to the widely- accepted number of martyrs of the Ashura battle; however, the number of martyrs listed inside Imam al-Husain's sacred shrine amounts to some one-hundred martyrs (personal observation).

L. 19.?Ummat ?, var.umma , means ?The Muslim community

H. Wells: Imam Husain

Pitched upon the scorching desert,

The tent of Husain lay,

Encompassed round with Satan's hounds

Upon that black sad day.

They numbered less than eighty strong,

Women and children too,

WhileYazid's thousands stood around,

Awaiting the fiend's might.

Driven away from the cooling stream,

His children waiting for water.

Awaiting with patience extremely sublime

Like sheep for the butcher's slaughter.

Oh! How valiantly fought that pitiful few,

AgainstYazid's wild murderers,

Fought with a courage unequalled in Time

Fought with a fierceness that was surely Divine.

The earth quaked and trembled as noon drew near.

But still the survivors knew no fear

But fewer grew that pitiful band,

For Islam, God, and Husain they stand.

At last, all were dead, the devil had won,

Blood red sank down the merciless sun,

Trampled and torn lay the gallant Husain,

For Islam, God, and the faithful were slain.*

*Khurshed , ed., Imam Husain, 2nd ed., pp. 141-142.

Tabish Khair : Poem from Outside a Muharram Procession

The clash of arms, the clasp ofarmour

(Ya Hassan,Ya Hussain ):

This is not sorrow, this is something else.

This is defeat

That's more than victory, this is

The past that's passed by father to son

As a trinket heirloom without price,

This is the inheritance of pain.

There they whirl, bleeding, bleeding

(Ya Hassan,Ya Hussain )

From wounds inflicted on other bodies

And in another century.

This is not war, this is women wailing

After the battle is over, after

The head is severed,mitred on a lance.

This is the knowledge of death

Passed on from mother to daughter

(Ya Hassan,Ya Hussain ).

This is not religion, this

Is the exchange ofunwrapped

Presents. This is a young boy feeling

With his father's heart, this is

A pony-tailed girl speaking

With the voice of her mother.

This is not anger, not even passion:

(Ya Hassan,Ya Hussain )

This is dancing with the wound of time.

This is my studied failure to feel.*

25

*Khair , Where Parallel Lines Meet, pp. 9-10.

L. 2.?Ya ", an Arabic vocative or attention-getter, almost

equivalent to English O, Oh, or Lo. Imam al- Hassan, here

mentioned as Hassan, was Imam al- Hussain's elder brother.

Anonymous: On the Morn of Muharram

Wake up my friends; for the morn of

Qiama has arrived

It is the month of Muharram

The crescent of grief has appeared

The month of mourning has arrived

Muharram is the month of tears

Muharram is the month of blood

Bodies are shredded

And the desert is a garden of blood

The crescent of grief has appeared

The month of mourning has arrived

The creation is sad and in mourning

It is the month:

When Husain was martyred

When the eyes of 'Ali shed blood

The crescent of grief has appeared

The month of mourning has arrived

Husain sacrificed forthee path of Islam

His head is on the spear

His body is on the ground

The crescent of grief has appeared

The month of mourning has arrived

The arms of 'Abbas were cut in this month

The three-edged arrow settled in the

parched throat of littleAsghar

The crescent of grief has appeared

The month of mourning has arrived

Zainab will hug the dust of thee dungeon

in this month

Thee innocent face of Sakina will be

Bruised in this month

The crescent of grief has appeared

The month of mourning has arrived.*

L. 2.?Qiama ? (correct formqi?mah ) means the Resurrection Day.

L. 15. ?'Ali?refers to Imam ?Al?, the first Infallible Imam.

L. 23. ?'Abbas?refers to ?Abb?s b. ?Al?, Imam Husain's step- brother, who was martyred at the Karbala Battle on Ashura. L. 25.?Asghar ? refers to ?Al? al-Asghar , Imam Husain's six month baby.

L. 28.?Zainab ? was Imam Husain's sister.

L. 29.?Sakina ? was Imam Husain's beloved daughter.

FarahYeganeh : A Shaped Elegy for Karbala

Where do you reside now?

Where you reside?

Where you?

Where?

Where have the rainbows perished to?5

Where rainbows perished?

Where rainbows?

Where?

Why does the city look so dark?

Why city dark?10

Why dark?

Why?

I've lost the orange and the violet of the rainbow.

Orange and violet of rainbow.

Lost rainbow.

Lost. What should be done with the silent confusion?

What with silent confusion?

With silent confusion?

What?20

I used to stand under the big tall tree.

Stand under big tall tree.

Stand under tree.

Stand.

And wonder at the magic of the colors.25

Wonder at magic of colors.

Magic ofcolors.Magic .

What have they done to the echoes?

What done to echoes?30

What to echoes?

What?

Have they eventually dissolved in nothingness? Eventually

dissolved in nothingness?

Dissolved in nothingness?35

Nothingness?*

*Ms. FarahYeganeh herself contributed this poem to this

volume.

Ethel M. Pope: Tragedy ofMoharram

Gold moonbeam shed their misty light

O'er a saddened world;

To sound of deepest funeral dirge.

Islam's banner is unfurled,

With slow and measured step, ? tis borne,

Aloft amid the throng,

The emblem of a mighty hand

E'er raised to right a wrong,

In by-gone days its silken folds,

Waved proudly in Iran;

From Continent to Continent,

The Arab symbol ran.

Its path was marked by victory,

The triumph of the right;

Till darkest Africa's heathen hands,

Were bathed in purest light.

That day of happiness is gone;

No more in ecstasy borne,

The banner heads a sobbing throng;

Whose duty is to mourn.

The loss of him beloved by all

A hero without stain,

Whose noble sacrifice has made

The world ring with his name

With open hand he gave his all;

His little children dear

Brothers, friends - helpless women too,

Cling to him in fear,

Unflinchingly, nor moved nor wept,

Secure in his just cause,

He nobly fought and nobly died,

To save Islam's great laws.

All the memory of martyrdom

A new the passions rise;

A bitter, sobbing, wailing cry,

Goes up unto the skies;

With each new year the latent grief,

Pent up, breaks out again,

And Heaven returns the impassioned cry,

Husain, Husain, Husain!*

*Khurshed , ed., Imam Husain, 2nd ed., pp. 153-154

Justice A. D. Russel: The Martyr of Karbala

From age to age, on Virtue's age,

Shall live the deathless story,

His loss remain the Martyr's gain,

His shame the Martyr's glory;

Till truth shall lie, and Honor die,

And time itself be hoary.

?Arise Husain, arise,

Chief of the Prophet's seed;

Fling broad thy banner to the skies,

And come with utmost speed,

Or ere the throne of the All-Wise

Usurped be by foulYazid ?.

He's donned hisarmour bright,

His father's sword girt on;

The sword of Ali, as the might

Of the Destroyer's own:

And he is off ere morning light

Across the desert wide and lone,

?Now ,Kufa , keep thy word!

To the good cause be true;

Yazid has sent a giant horde

To march thy province through;

The hirelings of his father's hoard,

Who grace or mercy never knew.?

They bore his god-like head aloft,

His mouth struck with their whips.

?O mouth, that I have seen so oft,

A-teem with angel quips,

In baby-kisses, warm and soft,

Pressed to the Prophet's lips!?

O body, trampled, fouled, disdained,

Which charmed the gazer's eye,

The blood from out thy veins that drained

Was heaven's electuary;

Nohorses hooves were ever stained

In so divine a dye.

O barren plain of Karbala,

With herb, nor yet with sod

Be clad eternally; for ah!

There, overwhelmed, down-trod,

The holy son of Fatima

Gave up his soul to God!*

*Khurshed , ed., Imam Husain, 2nd ed., pp. 136-140.

L. 19.Kufa , or al-Kufa (Arabic al-K?fa ), is a town on western bank of the Euphrates. It is now quite close to al-Najaf. Al-Kufa served as a seat ofImam ?Al ?'s government, hence a refuge and center for the Shiites. Just prior to the Karbala incident, several of its inhabitants wrote letters of invitation to Imam al-Husain; however, most of them betrayed him and participated in the unbalanced war against him in Karbala.

Mariam Rizvi : Untitled Poem

Peace, withsception and hope, I seek,

(congruity's scope I know is bleak)

To mend I crave (rather than kill)

To spill blood, abhor I will.

Intend I do, no force to use (If sense in you I can infuse) 5

But the rules, supreme, of the divine faith

Resolved I am, to defend till death.

Face your hostile moves I will.

Thought accord I covet, seek peace still.

A holy war it means indeed

If waged to crush the devil's creed.

Norancour , `against you,' I hold

But faith do cherish - as I told.

Islam I will resolutely shield

Burnt will stand and never yield.

Would welcome death (and make it tame)

Would rather die than live in shame.

Your Prophet's scion I'm - you know

At least some regard to his name show.

His singular dictum is my creed:

"Universal good" I adore, indeed.

Ali, the paragon, the seraphic Imam

Champ of the faith, the shield of Islam

Inimitable, impeccable: I am his son

His peerless attributes I have won.

My heart is virtues' abode and nest

Blessednessharbours in my breast.

Muhammad came in the kingdom of God,

as a messenger of peace as the master of creed.

He influenced the world with Ali's help,

and all the sons from his daughter's breed.

Fatima the lady of God's paradise,

Ali the warrior, the leader, the wise.

Hassan, the heir of eternal lore,

Hussain, the martyr, the heaven's door.

Call Ali in the trouble, Almighty says,

because in his presence the evil decays.

He's the lion of God, he's the sword of God,

and all his believers are one righteous squad.

Islam's prosperity is the gift of Hussain,

In the way of God, he sacrificed his clan.

He gave his head but not his grace,

His martyrdom is a slap on the devils face.

The grandson of prophet decided to fight,

to unveil the Satan, and bring him in light.

The food was banned, the water was stopped,

but on his mind the triumph had topped.

Zainab was with her brother all the time,

and participated as much to demolish the crime.

Her surety was Abbas, the holder of the flag,

Whose hand on the emblem is the victory's tag.

The thirst was a menace, the hunger a threat,

an example for all the mankind was set.

But therighteuos fought, and died on the faith,

and the right won, against the evils wraith. *

45

50

55

*Published on: Thursday, 9Muharam 1424 (13 March 2003)

L. 34. Hassan was the elder son ofImam ?Al ? and the second

infallible imam. He was the elder brother of Imam al-Husain.L . 48.Zainab , orZaynab bint ?Al ?, was Imam al-Husain's

younger sister who accompanied Imam al-Husain from Medina

to Karbala. She married hercousin ?Abd Allah b.Ja?far and

had four sons and a daughter. Two of hersons, ?Awn (var.

Aun ) and Muhammad, were martyred on Ashura in Karbala.

She bravely acted as the leader of the survivors of the Karbala

incident and eloquently acted as the disclosing voice of the

Karbala revolt to reveal the real face and unjust character of

Yaz?d .

L. 50.?Abb ?s (var. Abbas) b. ?Al? was Imam al-Husain's step-

brother. He typifies and symbolizes bravery, religious zeal,

chivalrous politeness, and absolute obedience toward Imam al-

Husain.

Syed Ahmed AliMohani : The Hero ofKerbala

Many, many years ago,

On bloody field ofKerbala ,

A noble hero faced his foe,

As champion of God's Faith and Law.

Ov'erhead there was a scorching sun,

There were no shady trees,

Beneath a burning sandy plain,

With no refreshing breeze.

A scion ofHashim's noble line;

Of Heroism a model,

Son of Ali, the Lion of God,

Grandson of God's Apostle.

His comrades few but loyal and brave,

Some young and some advanced in age,

The record of whose actions gave,

To history its brightest page.

Of worldly comforts they had none,

No couch nor rosy bed,

To comfort their afflicted hearts,

The Holy Word of God they read.

Three days they every distress bore,

Deprived of drink and food,

The world does still wonder at,

Their unexampled fortitude.

They fell around him one by one,

Firm in their righteous ways,

And for their loyalty have won,

From friend and foe a world of praise.

His friends with loving grief he eyed,

Lying dead in sun's scorching rays,

To justify his aim he tried,

To deal with foes in peaceful ways.

He brought in arms his baby son,

Asked them to give him water,

Saidhe, ?The babe no harm has done,

To die of thirst or slaughter.?

Stones they threw and arrows shot,

Obedient toYazid's behest,

And in their fury spared not,

Ev'n life of baby at the breast!

A little before his enemies were,

For water sorely passed,

Relief he gave them then and there,

And could not see even foes distressed.

He humbly prayed and praised the Lord,

The Giver of Spiritual beauty,

And though midst danger never failed,

To do his sacred duty.

Wickedness can no further go,

Cruelty needs no greater proofs,

His sacred body, after death,

Was trampled under horses' hoofs!

Victory, though mean, they gained, but still,

No bounds knew their ire.

Orphans and widows they captives made,

And set their tents on fire.

The captives saw with choking grief,

And eyes dimmed with tears,

The tragic sight of Martyrs' heads,

Uplifted on spears!*

*Lalljee , The Martyrdom of Imam Husain, pp. 63-65.

L. 2.?Kerbala ? is a variant spelling of ?Karbala? or ?Karbela ?, correct Arabic pronunciation ?Karbal ?'?, English spelling ?Karbala?.

L. 9.Hashim , orH?shim b. ?Abd Man?f , was the great- grandfather of the Prophet Muhammad.

L. 11.?The Lion of God? is an honorific title for Imam Ali signifying his bravery. Its Arabic original isAsad Allah with a Persian equivalent asShir -eKhoda .

Anonymous: A Journey

It was peak of the mischief and virtues in chains;

Just laws were sacked with rules insane;

As the tyrants on the rise, and mass confused,

offered lust with lies, and faith abused.

Thus the signs indicated, and time dictated.

Some souls elevated as al-Husain (A.S.) navigated;

a seed of the Prophet (P) and the sight of his Parents(A.S.)

that time in deluge, he was ark so apparent.

In the Name of God, for the sake of Islam;

for the freedom of life and soul of Islam;

gave greatest sacrifice, but not his hands,

with the members of his kin and many of his friends.

Hur , Muslim and the friends those hearts so pure;

they offered their lives as shield and cure;

thus tyrants came forth from the curtain way old;

then peace was bought and lives were sold.

And daring in the manners were the two young brothers;

in the boldness of their moves were the teachings of a mother

ShoneAun and Muhammad with the valor known asHaider (A.S.);

Those children were slain not the feeling of the mother.20 With a message from his father wasQasim bin Hassan (A.S.);

a radiant jewel of Islam was this glowing young son;

butQasim into pieces with a bride day old;

on the sand in heat it was savage and cold.

Then the pride of theHashims rode back from the river;

And the tyrants made sure that he did not deliver;

they cut off his arms, but spirit was set;

till an arrow hit the bag, only eyes got wet.

Fell Abbas (A.S.) from the horse, with no hands for resort;

then al-Husain (A.S.) rushed to shore for a brother's end resort;30

those children who waited with the patience were told; and thirst in the camp was three days old. Soon Akbarcam down with spear in his chest;

which a father had to pull so severe was the test;

He was image of the Prophet (P), and the life of al-Husain (A.S.);

He was vision of a mother and the eyes of al-Husain (A.S.)

Now the Leader was alone as he called for the help,

then a baby fell down; a response from the crib!

This thirsty, pure, infant was a son of Imam,

Who, acknowledged his father and the call of Imam.

40 Thus al-Husain (A.S.) brought him for some water in the field,

and showed them baby's dried lips and appealed;

but the six months old got an arrow so thick,

that turned him over and tore his neck.

AliAsghar went to sleep, with his father and no fear; 45

with the cradle on the fire, and their head on spear;

and the mother's empty hand, with the tear dried eyes,

who looked for the baby to sing lullabies.

And a sister by the camp saw the horror of this trip;

as a knife tore the neck, where the Prophet (P) put his lips;50

Earth in grief, roared heavens and mourned,

Sand turned red when al-Husain (A.S.) was torn.

And a child full of tears with her tiny bleeding ears,

bruises on her face and her thirst so severe;

She ran for her father who laid beheaded,

and cried for the uncle for help she needed;

Syeda Zainab (A.S.) looked for her in the sadness of that night;

did inquire every soul in the land of the plight;

but Sakina was sleeping on the chest of a body;

with the love of the father, from the fragrance of his boy.

Then the camp pushed down, while flames went up;

little children rushed out, as their dresses lit up;

it was night full of cries and the innocent quests;

shattered were the dreams and broken were the nests.

60

All defenses laid to rest, after trials and the tests;65

left to face, one Imam, even history would detest,

who fainted with the illness faced torture and torment;

a Master of the pious and devotees' ornament.

Lashes on his back heavy chains on Imam;

but ladies were the prisoners, was the wound of Imam; 70

No chador for them but their rope tied arms;

and grief soared high fromKufa toShaam .

But, the daughter of Ali (A.S.) challenged, miseries with the messages;

with the families in bazaars, and deadly courts of savages; With the depth of the patience and the Zenith of Braver Bravery;

Islam was rescued for ever from the slavery.*

L. 6.?A.S .? is the abbreviated form of an originally Arabic honorific and prayer-like sentence. ??Alayhi al-Sal?m ? for males, or ??Alayha al-Sal?m ? for females are basic forms used to express one's reverence and high respect for the dignitaries mentioned. Although widely-used in Islamic, particularly Shiite, devotional and religious texts produced in English, theabbreviation ?A.S .? has not been recorded in English dictionaries.

L. 13. ForHurr , see note to L. 181 above.

L. 19.Aun and Muhammad are two sons of LadyZaynab who was martyred in Karbala.

L. 19.?Haider ? is a title of Imam ?Al?.

L. 21.Q?sim was son of Imam al-Hasan, Imam al-Husain's elder brother.Q?sim fought the enemy and was martyred in defense of his uncle, viz. Imam al-Husain.

L. 25.?[ T]heHashims ? refers to theH?shimids present at Karbala, viz. Imam al-Husain and those of theH?shimid dynasty.

L. 29.?Abb ?s (var. Abbas) b. ?Al? was Imam al-Husain's step- brother. He typifies and symbolizes bravery, religious zeal, politeness, and entire obedience toward Imam al-Husain.

L. 33.?Akbar ?, lit. ?elder?, is a title of ?Al? b. al-Husain, the elder brother of the fourth Infallible Imam. Akbar is used here as a shortened form. On Ashura, he was the first of theH?shimids who went to the battlefield, fought the enemy, and was martyred.

L. 45. AliAsghar , Arabictitle ?Al ? al-Asghar , is ?Al? b. al- Husain. [Asghar means the youngest.] When Imam al-Husain lost all his companions, he got back to the tents and found him suffering from intense thirst. To prevent his baby from dying of thirst, Imam al-Husain brought him to the enemy so as to get him some water.

Imam al-Husain requested some water from the enemy soldiers to save him from certain death, but a wicked and cruel soldier shot an arrow and slew the baby in the Imam's arms.

L. 57.Syeda Zainab .?Syeda ? (lit. Lady, Miss, or Mrs.) is the feminine formof ?Syed ?, itself the Indian-Subcontinent English variant form of ?sayyid ? which means Mr. or Sir.

RegardingZainab , orZaynab bint ?Al ?, she was Imam al- Husain's younger sister who accompanied Imam al-Husain from Medina to Karbala. (Bint means ? daughter of?.) She married hercousin ?Abd Allah b.Ja?far and had four sons and a daughter.

Two of hersons, ?Awn (var.Aun ) and Muhammad, were martyred in Karbala on Ashura. She bravely acted as the leader of the survivors of the Karbala incident and eloquently acted as the disclosing voice of the Karbala revolt to disclose the real face and unjust character ofYazid .

L. 59.Sakina (Sak?na bint al-Husain), was Imam al-Husain's daughter.

L.71. Theword ? chador? symbolizes formal and religious covering for women and girls when they get out. Already a loan word in English, it in signifiesworrenls high social status in MiddleEatern Muslim communities.

L. 72.Kufa toShaam .Kufa , or al-Kufa (Arabic al-K?fa ), is a town on the western bank of the Euphrates. It is now quite close to al-Najaf. Al-Kufa served as a seat ofImam ?Al ?'s government, hence a refuge and center for the Shiites. Just prior to the Karbala incident, several of its inhabitants wrote letters, inviting Imam al-Husain to move there; however, most of them betrayed him and participated in the unbalanced war against him in Karbala.

L. 72.?Shaam ?, or ?al-Sh?m ? refers to the Levant that is a region presently comprising Syria, and the neighboring parts of Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan. It specifically refers to Damascus, the capital and seat of the Umayyad dynasty.

In Shiite culture, it implies the hardest and most unbearable phase of captivity for the survivors of the Karbala incident.

A. K.Esmail : The Conqueror ofKerbala

The tremendous surge from mid-deserts

Had just reached the brink

On its victorious onwards march

And, there for a while it stopped.

For a while it was touch and go

For a while it seemed

Desert born desert contained.

That was not to be

It was not so decreed

Muhammad's own blood

Was there to answer the call.

AtKerbala the faith was reborn

And Husain's martyred blood

Blossomed forth and

Lo, there was universal Islam.

To the last day-last minute

Shall shine the immortal deeds

Of Husain and his co-horts

The Faithful Few

Yes the Great one himself was on trial

The Last Prophet's own blood

His darling and his heir

Husain himself had to fall

Before the grand message spread.

The mouths that had fed

Bit the hands that held The ungrateful serpent's bite That was a Prophet's reward.

Bereft of gold, bereft of home Bereft of food and water itself But full of Muhammad's blood Full of pluck full of faith The Courageous led on.

Led on the last seventy-two Seventy and two of the grand host Spiritual ancestors of the like Who from ages keep the faith alive Those that do not quit.

Thrones are usurped, gold stolenBut not the thorny Crown That always rests on the brows of a rare Jesus.

That was Husain's heritageThat went back of Christ A heritage to stand like rock To suffer to strive and to die To die and cease to be So that Truth for ever be.

They don't dieThe heroes ofKerbala They who go through fiery furnaces and walk in the valley of shades For the end they emerge In shiningarmours radiating Light of truthfor ever .

In vain, in vain didYazid foam

In vain, did his armies stormFor the field was theirs Who had their precious lives lain The conqueror ofKerbala was Husain.

Here the unmatchable became invincible Here the price for the perfect was paid What father had conceived The brave son had fulfilled.

Ye , fields ofKerbala Stand us in need Muslims arte again on trial There is no Husain to lead.

Ya , Muhammad Mustapha Grant us thy son's spirit LetKerbala be our beaconFor we have only to repeat The original deed is done Can we not just repeat?

Yazids are yet all about Within us and also without His tribe does not die Ye, waters of old ladyFurat Tell us how Husain fought

Tell us how he won

For again have we to win

And leave an example behind

That the message of Muhammad

The sacrifice of Husain

Shall not be in vain

Islam, Allah's noblest gift

Has to be earned again and again.*

*Lalljee , The Martyrdom of Imam Husain, pp. 60-63.

L. 19.?The Faithful Few? refers to Imam al-Husain's companions who were relatively much less than the number of the enemy's army, which reportedly exceeded 30,000.

L. 21.?The Last Prophet? refers to the Prophet Muhammad.

L. 53.Yaz?d b.Mu`?w?yyah symolizes a very notorious and detestable figure. He was the cruel monarch of the Umayyad dynasty. Soon after his gaining power, he ordered his agent in Medina to gain Imam Husain's alliance by force.

As this was all in contradiction to the contents of the peace treaty signed by Mu??w? yyah and Imam Hassan, Imam al-Husain rightly refused to recognizeYaz?d as a Muslim ruler. Hence, the Imam left Medina for Mecca in defiance to the unjust force exerted.

As the people of al-Kufa had invited Imam al-Husain, he intended to go there. En route to and nearKufa , it was at Karbala whereYaz?d's agents and henchmen made Imam al- Husain stop. In fact,Yaz?d ordered his forces to surrender, fight, and slay Imam al-Husain and his companions therein.

L. 66.?Ya , Muhammad Mustapha?.?Ya ? is an Arabic vocative or attention-getter, corresponding roughly to English O, Oh, or Lo.

Mustapha, or Mustafa, ? lit. Chosen, selected, preferred, favorite, is anotherlaqab (designation or appellation) of the Prophet Muhammad.

L. 72.?Yazids ? signifies those who are likeYazid in character. Although proper names are regarded as inherently definite, and non-count, in such secondary uses they quality as a set-, or category-denoting noun, hence they may take a plural marker.

L. 75.Furat , orFur?t , [English Euphrates] is one of the two major rivers of Iraq where the city of Karbala is located on. It symbolizes the thirst Imam al-Husain and his companions endured as well as the battle occurred thereby at Karbala.

According to numerous Islamic hadiths, it is regarded as a Paradise river imbued with virtues for whoever gets consecrated with it. Also recommended is to perform ghusl [i.e., washing the whole body in a prescribed way for religious or ritual purposes] with its water prior to performingziarat , viz. pilgrimage, to Imam al-Husain's sacred sanctuary.