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THE MESSAGE OF KARBALA
More than thirteen centuries have now elapsed,
Truth is still bitter yet it can't be erased,
The New Year of Islam and its first ten days,
Relate the triumph of the great over the base.
The Message of God in The Holy Quran,
Is a continuation of the call to Truth since Dawn -
-The First Dawn when Time acquired meaning,
And revealed the Glory of the One True Being:
The One True Being: the One God of all,
Without equal, partner, son - big or small,
Nothing like Him, He is the Unique,
Incomparable, Mighty, Most Kind, yet not meek;
He created the universe and everything that exists,
And everything else, unseen, seen, smaller than a cyst,
Beyond compare is His great and grand plan,
From the creation of Adam and the fall of 'Shaitaan'*;
Adam and Eve, the first of mankind,
Were sent on Earth with eyes, heart and mind,
The Truth was clear, God was their Lord,
And this planet devoid of deceit, lies and fraud;
Yet, the Devil and his creed, set up their traps,
And some children of Adam and Eve were the gnats -
- Ensnared and distracted from the Straight Path,
They spread sin and vice inviting God's Wrath;
But before God's wrath encompassed them,
The Kind Lord sent one of His chosen men,
Called Noah, to hearken and bring the strayed ones back,
With Mercy and Forgiveness on the right track;
Still, just a few responded to Noah's call,
The so called mighty stood up like a wall,
Yet God's wrath destroyed them in the Flood,
Saving the good from the damned and the cursed.
After the Flood, God once more gave,
A chance to mankind from cradle to grave,
The prophet Noah's message taught the right ways,
Of living and dying, filled with God's Grace;
Yet, Satan and his creed once more waylaid,
After Noah, the progeny of those who were saved;
Thus, went on the battle between truth and falsehood,
With God's help, the evil always lost to the good.
As the ages passed by mankind was divided,
Increased was the number whom Satan invited,
Enticing them with desire, greed and lust,
And the righteous grew lesser like specks of dust --
In a dirty pond of murky and polluted water --
The good prayed for help to their Creator,
The prayers were answered and they won,
Following Abraham, Lot, Moses and Aaron,
The destruction of mighty kings like Pharoah,
And the Code of good living that was preached by Noah,
Was once more revealed as the Torah to Moses,
That was God's Law to be obeyed by the masses;
Yet, Lucifer was cunning, evil once more came,
To lead many astray from God and His Name,
The teachings of Torah were ignored by many,
And the devils now grew stronger and mighty;
But the Loving Lord God once more responded,
To the prayers of those who cried and demanded
Of Him, to save them from oppression,
Persecution, slaughter and eternal damnation.
So God chose the best, the Chaste Virgin of history ,
To bless her with a son named Jesus, son of Mary,
Strengthened with the Holy Spirit, this Prophet,
Spent his time in sifting the best from the rest --
-- The best who were chosen to be his supporters,
And spread the Message of God to oppressors,
Jesus Christ showed many a sign,
Spreading the Message of God the Divine;
However, even the Christ was betrayed,
By the very man whose soul he had saved,
The evil ones bound him, 'condemned' him to the Cross,
Yet God the Greatest saved him from their claws.
He made Jesus ascend high and above,
Leaving his enemies without knowing how;
They thought they killed him - the Messenger of God,
As it appeared to their eyes as decreed by the Lord.
Before Jesus left this world he told in his Gospel,
About the Prophet after him did he foretell,
He would come after him said Jesus Christ,
And emerge victorious against Satan's might:
And so what was said did come to pass,
In Arabia was born the child without flaws,
He was recognised by many who knew of Jesus,
His words in the Gospel and the Torah of Moses;
As the 'Paraclete' whose names would be many,
But 'Muhammad' and 'Ahmad' would shine with glory,
So, in the desert of the first House of God,
Called Makkah, came the Messenger of our Lord --
--The Lord God of Adam, Eve and their children,
To lead mankind from ruin to salvation,
All Arabia stood up against him, his followers,
Inflicting on them pain, death and disasters,
As foretold by Jesus Christ, the Messiah,
Muhammad (SAWS)*, with God's Message, converted Arabia,
From a nation that was the fountain of falsehood,
Into a people whose hearts were changed to good.
The falsehood of Satan was vanquished everywhere,
In Egypt and Persia, in Rome and elsewhere,
The Message of God defined as the Quran,
Was the completion of God's Gracious Plan --
-- It was nothing new but a revision of the Truth,
That was in the Bible compiled as 'The Book',
The Last Message of God dispelled superstition,
Confirming the facts and clearing man's vision:
Establishing the Divine everlasting call,
That God is One and the Lord of all,
That He is Unique and without any equal,
Sans father, son, daughter, wife, does He dwell:
His Divine Light shines in His worshippers' hearts,
Who sincerely worship him till this life lasts,
Obeying His Commandments and living righteously,
Saving themselves from Satan's treachery.
As long as the followers of God's Last Messenger,
Kept alive in their hearts and minds His 'Reminder'*,
They became a brotherhood of good men and women,
Fulfilling the prayer of the Prophet Abraham.
Satan was not content -- He had been given time,
To try and mislead mankind from everything Divine,
Thus when he failed to mislead mankind from the One True God,
He resorted to creating dissension and discord:
Thus began the epic of good against evil,
Facing each other once more on Karbala's soil,
Truth was shining in the being of Hussain,
The son of Ali - the most learned of men:
Defined by Muhammad Sallallahoo Alaihi Wassallam*,
As the "Gate of learning, knowledge and wisdom":
"The Gate that opens the world of the wise to me",
So said Allah's beloved Messenger of Mercy.
While Hussain, son of Ali, the Holy Prophet's grandson,
Represented Truth, goodness, virtues and wisdom,
Falsehood and vain pride stood on the other side,
In the troops of Yazeed, with Satan as their guide.
From the first of the Islamic month of Moharram,
To the 10th day of the reddened setting sun,
Karbala saw the clash of few against many,
Hussain's seventy two defying Yazeed's tyranny;
Even water was denied to the believers of Truth,
From the seventh day onwards, yet the faithful were unshook,
The faith and the courage of Hussain, son of Ali,
Embraced martyrdom than begging for water and pity...
Hussain and his 72 who stood up against Yazeed,
Gave their lives valiantly in opposing the greed,
And the lust for unbridled power, wealth and fame:
Thus the blood of Hussain wiped out Yazeed's name...
And so it came to be, on the 10th of Moharram,
They day when the fire cooled for Abraham,
The day when Noah stepped down from his Ark,
And when God through Moses split the Red Sea apart;
So did Hussain the great martyr along with his few,
Gave his life for upholding goodness and virtue,
That day when Yazeed and his troops thought,
That they had vanquished the bravest they fought --
-- Instead, came to be known in the annals of time,
As the ones who were foremost in their staunch decline,
Of everything that God's Last Message does preach,
Yazeed and his men lost everything in their reach --
To listen to reason and the appeal of Hussain,
To give up evil ways and God's rewards gain --
- By slaying the grandson of Allah's blessed Messenger,
They lost faces in this world earning God's anger.
Today, even today, the sands of Karbala relate,
How Hussain's faith in God sealed Yazeed's fate,
By giving his life, the brave son of Ali,
Showed Islam never bows to the sword of the mighty.
The grandson of God's Prophet, joy of Fatima's* eyes,
Responded to the persecuted people's sighs,
And gave everything he had keeping aloft the flag,
Of Truth unbending - its head did not drag;
That right always triumphs in struggles and fight,
That good always vanquishes evil ones' might,
On this day the righteous throughout the universe,
Sing the song of Hussain, in prose and in verse;
Hussain, the symbol of valour, and just peace,
Is the Prince of Heaven and his followers increase,
The Message of Karbala as it gained fame,
Is the Message of God shining in Hussain.
___________________________
*1: Shaitaan is Satan in Arabic.
*2.'Reminder' is another term used for the Holy Quran.
*3:SAWS is the abbreviated form of "Sallalaahoo/Sallallahu Alaihi Wassallam" in Arabic is always used by learned Muslim men and women along with the name of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahoo Alaihi Wassallam) and it means "On whom God's Peace and Blessings are always there".
4*Sallallahoo Alaihi Wassallam as defined above.
*4: Fatima (May God be pleased with her) was the first daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and the wife of Ali (May God be pleased with him) the son of Abu Talib and the mother of Hussain and his brother Hassan (May God be pleased with both of them).
-- Muhammad Naveed Ahmed
Copyright March 13, 2003, Moharram 9/10, 1424 A.H.
