Ashura Poems in English Explained and Annotated (volume 1)

Introduction

There is something quite strange yet intriguing with the name ?Imam al-Husain?. One of the most charming and pleasing names, the name ?Imam al-Husain? implies noble characteristics and most admirable qualities.

Yet, it mysteriously inspires his adherents and admirers to carry out their most sincere duties and modes of servitude, simply for the sake of meeting his satisfaction. The compiler of the present volume simply aspires to be regarded as one such person.

Throughout history, the purest and noblest forms of art, literature, architecture, and so forth have been associated with either religion itself, or figures closely associated with God and/or religion. Hence, the most sincere feelings of devotion are crystallized in the form of poetry, regardless of the language used.

The impact of Imam al-Husain on poets is highly evident in such languages as Arabic, Persian, Urdu, or Turkish, being the dominant languages of Muslim populations.

Such poems reveal the extent and depth of the impression the Imam has since exerted on the culture of the language in question. By the same token, it is interesting to examine such

devotional poems in English. Indeed, such poems only express the poet's most sincere feelings or reflections about the admirable figures in question.

The bulk of ziarat 1 texts, poems, prose pieces, laments, sermons, and tazia (Shiite version of passion play) 2 scripts devoted to the Ashura tragedy collectively make up what can generally be called Ashura literature.3 Granted that such forms of Ashura literature necessitate redefinition of ?

literature proper? simply to cover literary and linguistic manifestations of the whole event, Ashura literature is by no means limited to the Islamic era, beginning specifically from the very day of Ashura.

According to The Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 20 vols [^1989], s.v. ?ziarat?), the word ?ziarat? is defined as ?A Muslim place of pilgrimage, a shrine; a pilgrimage to such a place.? This is one sense of the word ?ziarat? as used in Arabic and Persian. Although not recorded in The Oxford English Dictionary, there is still another sense of the word which concerns prescribed and often-recommended texts, of various lengths, to be read while paying such a visit. ?Ziarat texts? deal with the second sense noted here; they signify a religious meeting, far beyond the bounds of time and place, with a mostly monologue type of talking.

2- Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (5th ed., 2 vols [^2002]) defines it in this way: ?A play commemorating the suffering and death of Husain, performed esp. on the anniversary of the event each year.?

3- In Arabic, it is called Adab al-Taff (lit. Karbal? Literature). Taff is another designation of Karbal?. See, for example, J. Shubbar, Adab al-Taff, 10 vols (Beirut: Dar al-Murtada, 1409 AH/1988). In Persian, the following works must be mentioned as examples: H. Gool-Muhammadi, ed., Ashura va She're Farsi [Ashura and Persian Poetry] (Tehran: Atlas, 1366 Sh/ 1985) and M.-A. Moj?hedi, Shokuh-e She?r-e ?shur? dar Zab?n-e F?rsi (Qom: Shahid Mahall?ti Institute, 1379 Sh/1999).

Ashura literature dates back to the pre-Islamic period.

According to an account related in Maf?t?h al- Jin?n,1 following the Safw?n prayer, Imam Ja?far al-S?diq remarks, through the chain of authorities indicated therein, that the text of the Ashura Ziarat was initially composed and issued by the Almighty.

(Supposing that there had not been any praise for Imam al-Husain except the very account indicated here, this single account itself proves well indicative of the magnificence and significance of the Ashura incident and the unique personality of Imam al-Husain.)

If such an authoritative text as the Ashura Ziarat could provisionally be put aside on the basis of the fact that its source of production was God the Almighty, the first human-produced work in the rest of the common heritage of Ashura literature dates back at least to the very first elegy which the Christian apostle Zachariah composed on the Ashura incident2-3

Maf?t?h al-Jin?n is a collection of prayers for recitation, non-obligatory, recommended rituals, and so forth anthologized by the late Sheikh Abbas Qommi. Although the explanations were originally phrased in Persian, the whole text later on appeared in Arabic and Urdu translations. Various editions and selections of the book are widely available.

2- See the annotated English translation of the Holy Quran produced by S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali (1st US ed., Elmhurst, NY: Tahrike Tarsile Qur'an, 1988), s.v. the Quranic mysterious letters K?F, H?, Y?, ?AYN, S?D in the first verse of the Sura Maryam (viz. Mary), p.242f, 1309.

3- Viewed from this broad perspective, one may come up with a classificatory scheme of Ashura literature. That is, it may be classified as a) pre-Islamic vs. b) post-Islamic accounts of lament on Imam al-Husain

While of the former there are just some reports in certain hadith-based exegeses (tafs?rs) of the Holy Quran, the latter can (conveniently and irrespective of the language used) be subdivided into poetic prose pieces, lectures and sermons, and poems, all focusing on the captivating personality of Imam al-Husain, his speeches, addresses, the poems (ascribed to him), and particularly the hardships he and his matchless adherents endured. As such,

several centuries ahead of its taking place. (There are some outstanding and high-ranking Shiite ulema [clerics] who have written various accounts1 of the similarities observable between the attributes and fates of the Christian apostle John [Arabic Yahy?]

and Imam al-Husain.) Such literary forms are entirely devoted to revealing the purest and noblest kinds of sincere feelings of their composers as well as serving as accounts of the hardships and afflictions Imam al-Husain's front suffered and endured in the Ashura tragedy.

2 In the Islamic period, since the Ashura tragedy onward, almost every devout belletrist, author, or researcher, however amateur or proficient, has produced (at least) a work, literary or scholarly,

chiefly to mark his or her reverence and tremendous respect for Ashura literature proves to be one of the most interesting literary genres not only far beyond the frontiers of Islam but signifying a linking thread between (at least) such Abrahamic religions as Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Unfortunately, such an archetypal and symbolic tragedy seems not to have received the due attention it deserves in most Western or Islamic literary circles. Needless to say, Ashura literature cannot logically be restricted to any predetermined languages and genres, nor to the faith and denomination of anyone who composes such a devotional piece of literature.

1- See, for example, J. Sh?shtar?, Dam? al-?ayn ?al? Khas?'is al-Husain, Persian title [Ashk-e Rav?n bar Amir-e K?rav?n], trans. Sayyed Muhammad Hosseyn Shahrestani (first lithographic ed., 1313 AH/1895; 9 th ed., Qom: Dar al-Ketab, 1381 Sh/2002), pp. 439-443, and pp. 423-450, for Imam al-Husain's similarities with other prophets and apostles; cf.

the Arabic original under the title of Al-Khas?'is al- Husain?yya: Khas?'is al-Husain wa Maz?y? al-Mazl?m, ed. Sayyed Ja?far B?qir al- Husain? (Qom: Anw?r al-Hud?, 1425 AH/ 2004), pp. 496-503, on the similarities between Imam al-Husain and the Apostle John; the entire Chapter 10, pp. 475-515, is concerned with the similarities between Imam al-Husain and other prophets and apostles.

2- Undoubtedly, the earliest piece of Ashura lament (viz. nawha) was produced by Lady Zaynab, Imam al-Husain's sister, beside the Imam's decapitated body on the Karbala battlefield of Ashura.

Imam al-Husain. Such works are by no means limited to Shiite literary figures; rather, quite a lot of Sunnite, even Christian, Jewish, and Hindu figures have shown and continue to show their respect and reverence by composing such pieces.1 Truly amazing is the fact that Ashura literature transgresses beyond all bounds of religion, political leaning, or language in that almost nothing can stand on a par with it as so penetrating and moving and, at the same time, smoothing.

The more a person reads or writes about it, the more eager they feel to go on with it. It makes one ponder, feel aflame, produce a work,2 feel satisfied for having done his or her duty, and then find it far from expressing their true feelings and pathos they experience, let alone to reflect the smallest degree of the depth and wide horizons of the event! In a nutshell, fatigue does not make sense here for this is a true instance of a labor of love.

Ashura literature in its entirety is not, and should by no means, be restricted to the main languages of the Muslim population. Such literature has been either translated into major European languages or produced directly in such languages as

See, for example, A. Bara, Al-Husain f? al-Fikr al-Masi?hi (2nd ed., Beirut, 1979; Qum: Fadak, 1426 AH/2005); A. al-N?blus?, Al?qah al-Mas?h?yy?n bi Ahl Bayt al- Nab?yy (Beirut: D?r al-H?d?, 1422 AH/2001). Here mention must be made of Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian's work ?The Events of Karbala: A Survey of Some Classical Sources: al-Ya?qubi, al-Tabari, and al-Mas?udi?

(Unpublished thesis, University of Birmingham, 1981), and Kam?l al-Sayyid, Boules Sal?mah: Sh?'ir al- Ghad?r wa Karbala f? al-Zaman al-Akhir (Beirut: Dar al-Ghadir, 1425 AH/2004). Part of the last work (pp. 46-76) focuses on the Ashura incident as mirrored in the poems of Boules Salamah, a famous Lebanese Christian poet.

2- This encompasses any type of work colored and minted with a sincere sense of devotion, be it drawing an artistic work, e.g. the contemporary Iranian painter Maestro Farshchiyan's famous painting ?Asr-e ?Ash?r? [The Ashura Afternoon].

English, French, and so forth. As long as Ashura is remembered and devoutly commemorated, its literature will remain and survive, for Ashura has been an incident far beyond the bounds and confines of the precise day of Ashura, the plain of Karbala, and the religion of Islam. It will remain imbued with invaluable and perennial lessons, moral, religious, and educational for all humanity.

Ashura will always remain a never-ending lesson. It has since vociferated the voice of the perennial battle between right and wrong, darkness and light, and it continues to mark the oppression of pure religious thought and noble human characters. In this way, it reverberates the voice of religious nobility as exemplified and crystallized in the Ashura battle.

Throughout the ages, Imam al-Husain, the mourning ceremonies held for him, and even going on pilgrimage to humbly pay visitation to his sacred tomb and sanctuary, and even paying a visit to those who have been on pilgrimage to Karbala, have not been altogether devoid of political implications for those who have realized the inherent political force behind the belief in the personality of Imam al-Husain as well as the spiritual and religious rewards and virtues recorded in the authoritative and canonical hadith texts. 1 To these, one

The bulk of hadith literature in this regard is legion and amazingly abundant, thought-provoking, and awe-inspiring. See, for example, the hadiths recorded in such texts as Ja?far b. Muhammad b. Q?lawayh al-Qumm?, K?mil al-Z?y?r?t, ed. ?Abdul Husain al-Am?n? ([lithographic ed.] Najaf: al-Murtadaw?yya, 1356 AH/1937), ?Abdul Husain al-Am?n?, 'Adab al-Z?'ir Liman Yamamm al-H?'ir, ed.

Naj?h J?bir Salm?n alHusain? ([orig. lithographic ed.] Najaf, 1362 Ah/1943; repr. Beirut: al-Balagh, 1424 AH/2003); Muhammad b. ?Al? b. al-Hasan al-?Alaw? al- Shajar?, Fadl Ziy?rat al-Husain ?Alayh al-Sal?m, ed. Sayyed Ahmad al-Husain? 26

must add the innumerable biographies 1, nawhas (viz. laments), marthiyas (viz. elegies), and dramas, 2 produced in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, to mention just a few. 3

The present book is by no means the first and last volume collected in this field. Contrary to an initial anticipation, it seems that Ashura literature in English will occupy at least five volumes of books. Hence, readers and (Qom: Ayatollah Mar?ash? Public Library, 1403 AH/1982) which contains eighty- nine hadiths on this topic.

1- A huge number of volumes of bibliographies have been compiled on the biographies of Imam al-Husain. The bulk of biographical accounts is legion and incalculable. Certainly no other figure can match Imam al-Husain as the subject of so many books, treatises, theses, dissertations, and biographical accounts, short or long, published or unpublished, in history. Excluding manuscripts and essays on his biography, compiling a bibliography of the published books dealing with the life of Imam al-Husain would turn into a voluminous work.

There is a short list of 103 important Arabic books on Imam al-Husain in M.-A. al-Am?n? al-Najaf?'s thirty-two page Introduction to Maqtal al-Imam al-Husain of M.-R. al-Tabas? al-Najaf? (Qom: Muhibbin, 1382 Sh/ 2003), pp. 9-20. See also the bibliographies of such short accounts as M. T. al-Sam?wi, Ibs?r al-?ayn f? Ans?r al-Husain, rev. ed., ed. A. J. al- Hasan? (Beirut: al-Bal?gh, 1424 AH/2003), and M.-B.

Pour-Amini, Chehreh? dar Hem?se-ye Karbal? (Qom, Iran: Boust?n-e Ket?b, 1382 Sh/ 2003). The Persian books and monographs on the subject are almost innumerable. The present author has not had access to a list of such biographies and research monographs written particularly in English; however, it is not illogical to guess that quite a great number of such accounts must have been produced in Muslim countries where English is the lingua franca.

2- For instance, A. Al-Sharqawi, Husain the Martyr: A Play in Six Scenes, trans. A. Abdul-Razzak (Chicago, Ill.: The Open School, 1997).

3- See, for instance, the articles ?An?s?, ?Marthiya?, and ?Muhtasham-i K?sh?n?? in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new edition (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1960- ). I should here like to mention a research project on the Turkish heritage of Ashura literature, currently under development by Dr. Amir al-Khaledi at the University of Kufa in Najaf, Iraq (personal communication).

critics are requested to contribute to this collection by providing the compiler with poems not included in the large corpus so far collected.

An attempt has been made to facilitate the readers' tasks. Where a person, a concept, a term, or an event is mentioned in a poem, the reader may refer to the endnote indicated, geared to its proper line number.

This is for the reader's ease of reference to the lines in which they appear. Just after each poem, there are some explanations to save the readers' time, and to provide them with some basic information to comprehend the fragment(s) in question.

The present introductory essay can hardly be regarded as a true introduction to a poetic collection on Ashura. It merely serves as a text by way of introduction. And, no doubt, any introduction to the life and afflictions of Imam al-Husain will prove far from adequate in respect of the greatest tragic incident in the world.

1 After all, who dares, or may even claim, to adequately describe the life of Imam al-Husain whom God honored with martyrdom?2 Any attempt to describe such a great incident would be like an ant's description of the Prophet Solomon's kingdom.

Take note of the following phrase quoted from the Ashura Ziarat ?mus?batan m? 'a?zamuh? wa 'a?zama raz?yyatuh? f?'l-isl?m wa f? jam?? al-sam?w?t wa'l-ard? [an agony for which there is nothing comparable in Islam and even in the whole world]. 2- Consider the fragment of the 'Arba??n Ziarat which reads ?akramtah? bi al- shah?da? [you, viz. God, respected and honored him [Imam al-Husain] with martyrdom].

The present introductory discourse ends with a fragment of a poem by the Iranian poet Seyyed Ali Musavi- Garmarudi: ?Here the word ends/ Where I reach an end/ At you no end bends.?

May God the Almighty consider and accept the present humble attempt. Amen!