(Original marsiya by [tbd]; translation by syeda raza)

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Leaving Kerbala behind, when the Prophet’s family left

Trailing behind the ailing Abid, of all joy bereft

As captives of the ruler of Shaam, the foul king

Zaynab cried out “Oh dear Brother we now leave this place”

 

“Since Your death we have experienced new pains, new events

I am now go to the court of Yazeed, bare-head”

 

“Oh my Brother, dear Brother who in Kerbala sleeps

My innocent Brother for whom the heavens weep

Deprived of water, beheaded in a state of utter thirst

Whose body was trampled, whose sorrows run deep”

 

“Whose parched throat the foul enemy slashed

As you writhed in pain with every dying breath”

 

“Oh forsaken desert you now hold treasures great

Oh Kerbala God’s precious property you now take

Oh dust-ridden land, my Mother’s wealth is now yours

The light of the Prophet burns here today”

 

“While these glorious treasures today fill your land

Oh Kerbala Zaynab leaves here with empty hands”

 

As she spoke Zaynab’s body shook with her sobs

“Come from Najaf Oh Ali” she cried out alas

“My neck is bound in ropes, look at my state

Leaving everything here from my Brother now I part”

 

“In the land of Kerbala, all I cherished is lost

In an alien place I part from my Brother alas”

 

“What pleasure does life hold when your dear ones are gone?

With this anguish that I feel, yet I must live on

This desolate caravan lost its leader in this land

Our home so filled with joy was completely wiped out”

 

“My beloveds rest today in this alien land

They have found a new home on these burning sands”

 

“We were betrayed by those who invited us to come

These people turned their backs on Fatimah’s Son

Shameless in their treachery, so lowly in their acts

They beheaded my Brother, the Prophet’s family was undone”

 

“They burned our camps and rejoiced at our grief

In Kerbala we lost everything, everything indeed”

 

“They attacked my Brother in front of my eyes

They slashed His body with arrows and spears in my sight

Not pausing as He uttered words of thanks to His Lord

Shimer sat on His chest and beheaded Him as I cried”

 

“Ignoring my cries, my pleas, my anguished wails

He walked away with my Brother’s blood-stained face”

 

“No one here listens to our pleas, our cries

To whom can we relate what we feel at these sights?

I no longer own a veil in which to hide my teary face

Bare-headed in this state I go to Shaam in day light”

 

“They show us the severed heads to inflict more pain

And tomorrow we will be presented before the evil king”

 

Hearing Zaynab’s words, the people of Shaam wept

They wailed at hearing the grief-stricken, tortured tale

“Pray tell us who you are” the anguished crowd cried

“Whose heads are these, tell us we pray”

 

“Whose family do you speak of? Lady tell us more

From where do you hail, suffered these unbearable woes?”

 

Hearing this Banu pointed to Akber’s head and cried

“He was eighteen when he parted forever from my sight

I raised him with such hopes, such dreams my eyes held

All was lost in the moment when he caught Death’s eyes”

 

“With him went all joy, all light of my world

A spear tore his chest, he was killed by evil swords”

 

Then turning to Asgher’s head, Banu said to the crowd

“This was also my son, only six months old

Having suffered for three days the ravages of thirst

He opened his mouth to show his suffering untold”

 

“For this he was punished with an arrow’s aim

He died when the arrow slashed his tiny neck”

 

Pointing to Qasim’s head, his mother then wailed

“This boy was mine, so brutally slain

Trampled by the army, crushed to his death

Beheaded without mercy, with cruelty insane”

 

“This tender youth was attacked with arrows and spears

His family is captured, his mother in tears”

 

Then the wife of Abbas pointed to his head in tears

“This is Abbas who died seeking water for Sukayna, his neice

In his love for her, he went to the river banks

And was ambushed on his way back from the stream”

 

“An icon of Ali, glorious was his might

He lost his arms as the enemy attacked from both sides”

 

Hands on her head, Zaynab called out once more in tears

The head at the forefront, resting on a spear

That is Husayn, the noble son of Ali

The Grandson of the Prophet, son of Fatimah dear”

 

“Exalted is our rank, we are of noble descent

Yet bare-headed I stand today, on a spear rests His head”

 

 

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