In the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, the most Merciful.
Why Hussein is Not Forgotten?
The life of Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, became an epic. A stirring one for all of humanity. Its importance is not just that it moves millions each year, a tide of feeling, creating ceremonies more fervent than any other. No. Its importance lies deeper.
It needs no urging, no call to arms, save the pure pull of faith, of humanity. This grand display, honoring a moment in history, requires no stage setting, no great effort of propaganda. It is, in this, unique.
Most of us know this truth. But a question remains, a puzzle for many, especially those outside the Islamic faith. Why is this event, similar in form and fury to so many others, given such weight? Why does its remembrance grow grander, more passionate each year?
Why now, when the Umayyad party and their kind are but dust, when the heroes of that day should be forgotten, has the Karbala event taken on an eternal hue?
The answer lies in the true motives of that uprising. To those familiar with the history of Islam, the analysis is not complex.
The bloody day of Karbala was not a fight between two rivals for a seat of power, or for land, for possessions. Nor did it spring from the old hatreds of warring tribes, squabbling over clan privileges.
It was, in truth, a clear battle of two schools of thought, of belief. A burning fire that, through humanity's long, storied history, from the farthest past to this day, has never been quenched. This struggle was the continuation of the prophets' fight, of all reformers. It was the echo of Badr and Ahzab.
We know this: when the Prophet of Islam, as a leader of a revolution of thought and society, rose to save man from idolatry and superstition, to free him from the grip of ignorance and tyranny, he gathered the oppressed, those who sought truth, the very elements of change. Then the adversaries, led by the rich idolaters and usurers of Mecca, closed ranks. They threw all their strength against this call, seeking to silence it. The Umayyad party, led by Abu Sufyan, spearheaded these anti-Islamic efforts.
But in the end, they knelt before the dazzling power of Islam. Their organization shattered.
This breaking was not their end. It was a turning point. Their open, clear anti-Islamic acts became hidden, gradual ones. The way of any stubborn, weak, defeated enemy. They waited.
After the Prophet's passing, the Umayyads sought to stir a reactionary movement, to push people back to the days before Islam. They tried to infiltrate the Islamic leadership. And the further Muslims moved from the Prophet's time, the more fertile they found the ground.
Some pre-Islamic customs, revived by others, for various reasons, prepared the way for a pagan uprising. Among them:
* Racism, which Islam had forbidden, was revived by some caliphs. The Arab race was given a special superiority over the "Mawali" (non-Arabs).
* Various discriminations, entirely alien to the spirit of Islam, appeared. The public treasury, which in the Prophet's time was divided equally, changed. Undue privileges were given, and class distinctions were revived.
* Posts and positions, given in the Prophet's time based on merit, on scientific, ethical, and spiritual worth, became a matter of kinship. They were distributed among the relatives of some caliphs.
In these very circumstances, Muawiyah, Abu Sufyan's son, entered the Islamic government. He became governor of one of Islam's most vital regions: Syria. From there, with the help of the remnants of the pagan factions, he smoothed the path to seize the Islamic government and revive all the old pagan ways. This tide was so strong it kept a pure man like Ali, peace be upon him, occupied through all his caliphate.
The Unveiling of the Movement
The face of this anti-Islamic movement was so plain, even its leaders could not hide it. Abu Sufyan, when the caliphate passed to the Umayyads and Marwanids, spoke with shamelessness: "O Umayyads! Strive, snatch the ball of leadership from the field! (And pass it among yourselves.) By what I swear, there is no heaven, no hell! (And Muhammad's uprising was but a political movement)."
Or Muawiyah, when he gained control of Iraq, said in his sermon in Kufa: "I have not come to make you pray and fast. I have come to rule you. Whoever opposes me, I will destroy him!"
And Yazid, when he saw the heads of the free men who drank the cup of martyrdom in Karbala, said: "Oh, if only my ancestors, killed at Badr, were here to see me take revenge on the Banu Hashim...!"
All these are clear signs of the nature of this reactionary and anti-Islamic movement. And the further it went, the more blatant and severe it became.
Could Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, have remained silent in the face of this great danger threatening dear Islam, a danger that reached its peak under Yazid? Would God, the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his Purified Family), and the pure lineage (peace be on them) that nurtured him, have approved?
Should he not, with extraordinary sacrifice and absolute selflessness, break the deadly silence that had fallen over the Islamic society? Should he not expose the sinister face of this pagan movement from behind the Umayyads' propaganda screens? And with his pure blood, write shining lines on the forehead of Islamic history, an eternal, stirring epic for the future?
The Living Truth, a Shabeeri might,
Falsehood's last sigh, a burning, bitter blight.
Through Shabeeri's grace, truth stands unwavering,
While falsehood's fate is sorrow, ever-craving.
When Caliphate from Quran's bond did stray,
And poisoned freedom's cup, come what may,
From Khair-ul-Umam, a leader rose,
Like clouds of blessing, where the rain bestows.
On Karbala's parched earth, he poured his rain,
And sowed the blood of Martydom in that barren plain.
Till Judgment Day, tyranny's reign he broke,
His crimson wave, a garden, thus awoke.
A Muslim bows to none but God alone,
Before no Pharaoh is his head down-thrown.
Moses and Pharaoh, Shabeer and Yazid—
Two forces born from life, forever decreed.
Yes, Hussein did this. He fulfilled his great historical mission for Islam. He changed the course of Islamic history. He crushed the anti-Islamic plots of the Umayyad party. He neutralized their last tyrannical efforts.
This is the true face of Hussein's uprising. And from this, it becomes clear why the name and history of Imam Hussein are never forgotten. He does not belong to one era, one century, one time. No. He and his goal are eternal. Every land is Karbala and every day is Ashura.
Here's an attempt to capture the essence of the provided Persian poetry in the style of Louise Glück, focusing on the stark imagery, directness, and underlying grief, while aiming for a rhythmic quality.
Son of Batool, that Imam of love,
A cypress, free, from the Prophet's (PBUH&HF) grove.
God, oh God, his father (PBUH), the Bismillah's "Ba,"
The son, the meaning of "great sacrifice"—ah.
Moses (PBUH) and Pharaoh, Shabbir (PBUH) and Yazid—
Two forces from life, unveiled, indeed.
Truth lives through Shabbir's (PBUH) might,
Falsehood, at last, dies in bitter night.
He severed tyranny, 'til time takes flight,
His blood-wave birthed a garden, bright.
For truth, in dust and blood, he lay—
Thus became the foundation of "No god but He," they say.
Had his aim been power, a kingly crown,
He'd not embarked with such slight renown.
The sword, for faith's honor, nothing more,
His goal: preserve the law, forevermore.
From Hussein (PBUH), I learned the Quran's code,
From his fire, these flames have flowed.
He drank the cup of martyrdom for truth and justice, for freedom. For God and Islam. For the salvation of humanity, for the revival of human values. Do these concepts ever grow old and forgotten?
No. Never.
Who Won?
In this great struggle, who truly won? Was it the Umayyads and their bloodthirsty, worldly soldiers? Or was it Imam Hussein and his devoted companions who sacrificed everything for the love of truth, of virtue, for God?
Understanding the true meaning of victory and defeat answers this question. Victory is not emerging unharmed from battle, or striking down your enemy. Victory is advancing your goal, and preventing the enemy from reaching theirs.
As is observed in all struggles, movements and wars for the right cause or wrong motos.
With this in mind, the final outcome of that bloody battle becomes entirely clear. It is true that Hussein (peace be upon him) and his loyal companions drank the cup of martyrdom after a heroic fight. But they achieved their sacred goal, in every sense, from that glorious martyrdom (peace and salutations be upon them and the curse of God be upon the people who plotted, managed and agreed upon killing them on innocence and in the way of God).
The goal was to expose the nature of the reactionary and anti-Islamic Umayyad movement, to awaken the public conscience of Muslims, to make them aware of the plots of these remnants of the age of ignorance, the dregs of disbelief and idolatry. This goal was achieved.
They finally cut the roots of the Umayyad tree of oppression. By setting the stage for the downfall of that usurping government, whose pride lay in reviving pagan customs, corruption, discrimination, and tyranny, they removed its dark, shameful shadow from over the Muslims for ever.
Yazid's rule, by killing the virtuous men of the Prophet's family (peace and salutations be upon them), especially Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), the great leader of Islam, the beloved of the Prophet (PBUH&HF), showed its true face to all. It beat the drum of scandal for these claimants to the Prophet's (PBUH&HF) succession everywhere.
It is not strange that in all the revolutions and transformations that followed the Karbala event, we find the cry of "avenging these martyrs" or "satisfaction for the family of Muhammad (PBUH&HF)." This continued until the time of the Abbasids, who themselves came to power by exploiting this issue, and then took the path of tyranny.
What greater victory is there than this? They not only achieved their sacred goal, but they became a model for all free people of the world.
Why Do We Mourn?
They say if Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) was victorious, why do we not celebrate? Why do we weep?
Is all this weeping fitting for such a great victory?
Those who raise this objection do not understand the philosophy of mourning. They confuse it with tears of abasement.
Tears, the flowing drops from the eyes, which are the window to the human heart, are of four kinds:
* Tears of Joy
The tears of a mother seeing her lost child after years. Or the joyous, satisfying tears of a true lover who, after a lifetime of deprivation, finds his beloved. These are tears of joy.
Much of the Karbala epic stirs joy and passion. Following it, floods of joyful tears flow from the eyes of the listener, for all that bravery, sacrifice, courage, freedom, and the fiery speeches of men and women seemingly enslaved. Plus there is human factor of feeling sad on a sad event when described in detail especially having the holy and pious sentiments along with it. This makes the whole body and soul emmersed in the big holy spirit of Martydom with natural inclination to mourning and maatam. Are these tears a sign of defeat? These tears are signs of association with the Greatest Martyrdom of Imam Hussain (peace and saluations be upon him, his relatives and his companions).
* Emotional Tears
What lies within a man's chest is a heart, not a stone! And this heart, which draws the waves of human emotion, trembles when it sees an orphaned child dying in its mother's arms, thirsty and hungry on a hot summer day, separated from its father. It pours forth a flood of tears, drawing the lines of these waves on the face, showing a living heart, full of human emotion.
If, upon hearing the story of an infant dying in his father's arms, struggling in a flood of blood, in the Karbala event, a heart beats, and throws its fiery sparks out as drops of tears, is this a sign of weakness and inability, or proof of the awakening of that feeling heart?
* Tears of Purposeful Connection
Sometimes, tears carry a message of purpose. Those who wish to say they are with the way of Imam Hussein ( PBUH ), aligned with his goal, followers of his school of thought. They might express this with fiery slogans, or with poetry and epics. But sometimes, those might be artificial. But one who sheds a tear from deep within his heart upon hearing this heart-wrenching event expresses this truth more sincerely. This tear is an announcement of loyalty to the sacred goals of Imam Hussein's companions (PBUT), a bond of heart and soul with them, a declaration of war against idolatry, oppression and tyranny, and a declaration of abhorrence for impurities. Can this kind of weeping occur without knowing his pure goals?
* Tears of Humiliation and Defeat
These are the tears of weak and helpless individuals who have failed to reach their goals and see no spirit or courage within themselves to advance. They sit and weep helplessly as are the tears of those who object Imam Hussain ( PBUH) and his followers, the successful ones on the Day of Judgement.
Never weep such tears for Imam Hussein (PBUH). He despises such weeping. If you weep, let it be tears of sincerity, of emotion, of purposeful connection.
But more important than mourning is to understand the school of Imam Hussein and his companions (PBUT), and to practically adhere to the goals of that great man. To be pure, to live purely, to think correctly, and to act.
Karbala, the battlefield of lions!
Karbala, the qibla of hearts,
The fire of love burns there.
Karbala, the center of eternal grace,
The keeper of God's timeless secret.
Karbala, the cradle of valor,
The scene of love and martyrdom.
Karbala, the Kaaba of the people of truth,
The twilight of tyrannical darkness.
Karbala, the battlefield of lions,
The fortress of honor and faith!
Karbala, the school of love and loyalty,
Karbala, the dwelling place of truth and sincerity.
Karbala, the light of the highest heavens,
Illuminating time and earth.
Karbala! My hand and your skirt,
Blessings upon your sanctuary and its inhabitants.
My heart burns from your distance,
My eyes weep, my liver scorched.
From head to foot I yearn for you,
In separation from your sanctuary, I am restless.
The bird of my heart desires your purity,
My heart sings your arrival.
Ah, alas, these executioners,
Blocked the path for the people of faith!
Blessings upon you
Again, in memories, your remembrance, O seeker of love,
Has ignited the soaring flame of freedom!
A world has gazed upon you, upon your resolve and manhood,
With longing and desire, their souls burning.
The imprint of your struggle, on the page of world history,
Shines like the dawn's light from the shore of night!
Its radiance shines upon all, teaching steadfastness
And loyalty, on the path of seeking.
The way of freedom, of struggle, and truth-seeking,
Everywhere, was the shining page of your creed.
What gave life to the Islamic nation
Was the movement of emotion, and your bloody uprising.
So that from your blood, a world might be freed from bondage,
You gave your life for your human ideal.
On the path of the Kaaba of truth-seeking, of manhood, and honor,
Blessings upon you! For you gave seventy-two sacrifices.
My life sacrificed for you, O leader of freedom and love,
Whose soul never bowed in submission.
For that manly sacrifice and pure devotion,
Eternal blessings upon you, and upon your love and loyalty.
"My Goal" in the words of Imam Hussein ( peace be upon him)
Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, said: "I did not leave for pleasure, nor for arrogance, nor to cause corruption, nor as an oppressor. I left only to seek reform in the nation of my grandfather. I wish to command good and forbid evil, and to follow the path of my grandfather and my father, Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him." Imam Hussein, peace be upon him, said: I never left the land of Hijaz for wantonness or arrogance. My goal in this uprising and revolt is not to cause corruption or tyranny.
I rose to rectify the disordered state of the Muslims. My plan, like the plan of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and my father, Ali, peace be upon him, is to call to truth and fight corruption. And in this path, I advance.
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
"Strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of God. That is better for you, if you but knew."
(Tawbah: 41)
Karbala's Lament
The field, Karbala, where lions fell with might,
A pulsing heart, qibla of longing, burning ever bright,
Where love’s own fire consumes in sacred light.
Grace, an eternal center, a secret kept so deep,
In God’s own quiet hand, while all the world did sleep.
Cradle of courage, yes, where love for God was returned with the blade,
The martyr’s breath released, a promise truly made.
Kaaba for the truthful, dawn’s faint light did gleam,
Against the tyrant’s night, a shadowed, fading dream.
A fortress of honor, of unwavering faith, so strong,
School of devotion, where truth and sincerity belong.
A light from the highest heavens, softly now it streams,
Illuminating time, and earth beneath our dreams.
From “Philosophy of Martyrdom,” a page torn, trembling still,
My hand reaches for your hem, Karbala, at your will.
Blessings on your dust, your silent inhabitants true,
My heart aches, distant now, longing just for you.
Eyes weeping, liver scorched, a pain that will not cease,
From foot to crown, a single ache, no moment of release.
Restless, separated from your hallowed ground, it's true,
The bird of my heart, it craves your purity, anew.
Sings of your arrival, a hope of Heaven, with love and fear,
Ah, these executioners, they blocked the path, right here?
For those who sought faith's light.
Blessings are upright.
Again, your memory, seeker of love so grand,
Ignites the soaring flame, held in freedom’s hand.
Freedom's restless heart, a world watched, didn't it so?
Your resolve, your manhood, burning their very souls below.
From “Philosophy of Martyrdom,” another lesson now shown,
The imprint of your struggle, etched in history, known.
On the world’s fragile history, like dawn from night’s dark shore,
Its radiance, a lesson for all, forevermore.
Steadfastness, loyalty on the path of seeking’s way,
The way of freedom, of struggle, of truth, in every single day.
Everywhere, it was your pious creed’s bright page, so clear,
What gave life to the Islamic nation, year after year?
A movement of feeling, your uprising, bold and vast,
Bloodied, inevitable, a moment built to last.
From “Philosophy of Martyrdom,” yet another truth, we find,
So a world might be freed from its chains, for all of humankind.
You offered your life, your human ideal bright,
On the path of truth’s Kaaba, in pure and shining light.
Manhood, honor shown, blessings upon you in sacrifice.
Seventy-two sacrifices, before God, you bowed in sacrifice.
My life, given for you, leader of freedom, of love so deep.
Whose soul never bent, never bowed, secrets it did keep.
For that manly sacrifice, that pure devotion’s grace,
Eternal blessings upon you, in this sacred, hallowed place.
Upon your love, your unwavering loyalty, forever we shall trace.
The Goal Declared
Imam Hussein (PBUH) said: I did not leave for pleasure,
Not for arrogance, not to sow corruption’s measure,
Not as an oppressor, with intent to bring despair.
Only to seek reform, a truth beyond compare,
In the nation of my grandfather (PBUH&HF), with utmost care.
To command good, to forbid evil, a righteous, holy plea,
To follow the path of my grandfather (PBUH&HF), for all the world to see,
My father, Ali (PBUH), whose footsteps led to liberty to guide.
He said: I never left Hijaz for wantonness, for pride,
My goal in this rising, this revolt, where martyrs truly ride,
Is not corruption. Not tyranny, but justice as my guide.
I rose to mend the Muslims’ fractured state, to heal the wounds so deep,
My plan, like the Prophet’s (PBUH&HF), like Ali’s (PBUB), secrets it will keep,
Is to call to truth, to fight corruption, while the world does weep.
In this path, I advance, with every breath I take.
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, for humanity’s own sake.
“Strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of God.
That is better for you, if you but knew,” a sacred, guiding nod.
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