Ashura Poems in English Explained and Annotated (volume 1)

Hari Kumar : Ashura

The chain whips awaken a hundred eyes on their backs. Red tears trail the streets to the gold-domed tomb of Husain. A golden spider with legs of blood. Wails shake the sky the minaret props. But today, for every lash for Husain, a lash will tear for a warded son.*

T. D. Chattani : Vale of Sorrow

Through the Vale of sorrow does history trace Two matchless martyrs our Prophet's pets Who left their hearths with Islamic grace In hunger and thirst their duty to face. Severed from home, exhausted on the field Opposed by enemies who had Satan's shield They gave their lives that others be freed From falsehood, tyranny and a Kafir's creed. Most precious blood flowed from their veins Battlefield of Karbala has still those stains From our hearts should rush rivers of blood Renewing our faith with this vital flood. !*

*Khurshed, ed., Imam Husain, 2nd ed., p. 157 L. 8 ?Kafir? refers to ?infidel, unbeliever, or pagen?.

Ameen Khorasanee : Husain of Kerbala

Men weep for you today in many lands, And on their breasts in bitter anguish beat, And in sad, mournful tunes, the tales repeat of how you lost your family upon the sands. You nobly spurned the tyrant's base demands and chose 5 Death to prevent your soul's defeat,- Became a martyr with unflinching feet- For these well may one weep who understands. This sorrow at your death, despite the years is still as fresh, Which Time has failed to quell.10 In every heart this day new pain appears And of your sufferings men each other tell. They see a vision through slow falling tears of that lone Battle where athirst you fell.* *Lalljee, The Martyrdom of Imam Husain, p. 60.

Sarojini Naidu : The Night of Martyrdom

Blackrobed, barefooted, with dim eyes that rain Wild tears in memory of thy woeful plight, And hands that in blind, rhythmic anguish smite Their bloodstained bosoms to sad refrain From the old haunting legion of thy pain, Thy votaries mourn thee through the tragic night With mystic dirge and melancholy rite, Crying to thee ? Husain! Husain! Why do thy myriad lovers so lament? Sweet saint, is not thy matchless martyrhood The living banner and brave covenant Of the high creed thy Prophet did proclaim, Bequeathing for the world's beautitude Th' enduring loveliness of Allah's name?* 5 10 * Naidu, The Feathers of the Dawn, p. 6.

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 the Muhurrum ceremonies, to which they bring their Tazias and Taboots.? in Lewis, Sahibs, Nabobs, and Boxwallahs: A Dictionary of the Words of Anglo- India, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1991.

* Naidu, The Sceptred 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, On Kerbala's barren strand Others lie, a reaking band. Torn with wounds and stain'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 benefits bestow'd By whom whose bounty freely flow'd.*

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

Anonymous : Vision of Kerbala

Here's the tale of my nightly trance The Vision of Karbala in a deathly dance When a Martyr great faced the lance, Of shameful Shimr 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 trumpet spake 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. Satanic sceptres 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 starving Ummat 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 was Shurahb?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