المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

Be consoled, for how many a comfort you have
that eases away from you the anguish of grief:
the death of the Prophet, the slaying of the Successor,
the slaying of al-Hussein, and the poisoning of al-Hassan (1)

And the dragging of the Successor, the seizure of the inheritance,
the taking of the rights, and the unveiling of grudges,
and the demolishing of the beacon and the House of God,
and the burning of the Book, and the abandoning of the traditions

The trials of time are clouds piled upon one another,
weighted down with calamities, then with disasters.
So when sorrows heap themselves upon you, console yourself
with the affliction of the children of the chaste one, Fatima (2)

When the heart remembers the family of the Prophet,
the captivity of the women, and the tearing of veils,
the slaughter of the infant, the slaying of the Successor,
the killing of Shabbir, and the poison of Shabbar,
the water of the heart wells up in the eye,
and its pearls flow down upon the cheek.
So, O heart, be patient over their grief,
for in afflictions lie the lessons.

When a man is not granted what he longs for,
and reflection and wasting away have worn him thin,
in the family of the Messenger he finds consolation,
and in what Fatima the chaste one endured (3)

Your calamity has made us forget our own calamities
that went before, and has lightened the calamities to come.
The disasters of the days remain for a while
and pass away—but yours endures until the Day of Resurrection.

All calamities, beside the battle of Karbala,
are forgotten—however great, their greatness fades.

And when time assails you in turn,
and stirs up tribulations against you,
remember their affliction in the plain
of Karbala, and you will forget all afflictions (1)

They destroyed them by killing, by poison, and by mutilation,
as though the Messenger of God were no father to them.

Who will inform the Chosen One that his two grandsons have perished—
this one by poison, and that one slaughtered by the sword?
He enjoined and emphasized his bequest in the world,
yet they treated his covenant with breaking and alteration.
Had their grandfather enjoined the wronging of them,
they could not have added more to what they brought upon them (2)

Is it not strange that the family of Muhammad—
some slain, some left wandering and bewildered, and some captive?
The gray doves sleep when they nestle to rest,
but their sleep at rest-time is only sighing groans (3)

O nation that broke the covenants of its Prophet,
what then called you to the breaking of covenants?
O Taym, may no happiness ever be fulfilled for you,
but rather your misery called you to wretchedness.
O nation that incurred the killing of its guides,
what then guided you to the killing of the guides?
Or which Satan cast you with his error,
until he overcame you and undid the knots of your bond?
What evil recompense to Ahmad in his family
and his sons on the day of al-Taff was your reward to him.

Do not rejoice, for as much as you found sweet
in your former life, you shall be tormented in your latter.
Alas for the dust-stained cheek that your foolish ones
furiously furrowed with the points of their spears.
Alas for your family, O Messenger of God,
in the hands of the tyrants—wailing and weeping (1)

Abd Shams has kindled against the clan of Hashim
a war in which the newborn child turns gray.
The son of Harb against the Chosen One, and the son of Hind
against Ali, and Yazid against al-Hussein (3)

How many an arm of theirs lies severed at al-Taff,
and how many a cheek lies dust-covered upon the bare ground.
It makes me forget al-Hussein and their march to his slaying,
as they say: "This is the master of mankind."
O wicked nation, you did not requite Ahmad
for his goodly trial over the Revelation and the chapters.
You succeeded him over the children when he passed,
as the wolf succeeds in seizing one who keeps cattle.
No living soul that we know remains—
of Yemen, nor of Bakr, nor of Mudar—
but they were partners in shedding their blood,
as gamblers share in the slaughtered beast,
in killing, in captivity, in terror, and in plunder,
the deed of raiders in the lands of Rome and the Khazars (3)

They came with your head, O son of the daughter of Muhammad,
stained crimson with its own blood, blood-soaked.
It is as though, through you, O son of the daughter of Muhammad,
they openly and deliberately slew a Messenger.
They killed you thirsting, and they did not regard,
in your killing, the Revelation nor its interpretation.
And they cry "God is great" because you were slain—yet truly
through you they slew the very cry of "God is great" and "There is no god but God."

They denied them the water of the Euphrates, and beside it
their blood was spilled by their swords, deemed lawful.
Their heads parted from their bodies, and so they met
the blue spear-points and the withered lances.
Their captive weeps for the loss of their slain one
in sorrow—yet in truth, each one is afflicted.
This one falls upon his right, dust-covered
with the blood of his jugular; and that one is driven away, fettered.
And among the wonders is that their lions are led
in captivity, while the dogs devour the cubs.
Alas for Zayn al-Abidin, led away
in the weight of iron, shackled and chained,

shaking in his fetters, weighed down,
aching from his affliction, trembling.
I would ransom the captive—would that my cheek had been a resting-place
that could have served him as a litter among the litters.
I have sworn by the Merciful, the oath of a truthful man:
were it not for the Pharaohs, the tyrants of old,
the heart of Muhammad would not have spent the night for his grandson
restless, nor the heart of the Successor in turmoil.
They betrayed the covenants of the Prophet and kindled
the fires of a war whose heat shall never be quenched (1)

We held power, and pardon was our nature,
but when you held power, the valley flowed with blood.
You made lawful the killing of captives, while we so long
would refrain from the captives, sparing and forgiving.

Let this distinction between us suffice you—
for every vessel pours forth what is within it (1)

O Taym, may no happiness ever be fulfilled for you,
but rather your misery called you to wretchedness.
Were it not for you, the brutes of Umayya would never have
triumphed one day over the progeny of Ahmad—were it not for you.
By God, you have not attained happiness; rather
your desire has cast you into the fire of Hell.
How can you claim release when you have settled
a rule for another? So how can you be truthful in your claim?
You, O Adiyy, are the greater in enmity—
by God, none but you propped up hypocrisy.
Would that there had never been a day in which you were, nor an hour,
in which Nufayl broke the seal of Suhak's marriage.
Upon you, O Umayya, be disgrace forever,
remaining as your remaining in the fire endures.
Would that you had pardoned al-Hussein and his band,
as the Successor, his father, pardoned your fathers,
and had shown mercy on the day of al-Taff, the mercy of his two grandfathers—
the one sent on the day of the Conquest—toward your freed captives.
Was there a hand that stripped your bondmaids as
your hands stripped the noblewomen of al-Hussein?
Or did your women come forth at the conquest of Mecca, unveiled,
as his women on the day of al-Tuff?
O nation that incurred the killing of its guides,
what then guided you to the killing of the guides?
Or which Satan cast you with his error,
until he overcame you and undid the knots of your bond?
What evil recompense to Ahmad in his family
and his sons on the day of al-Taff was your reward.
If you rejoiced over a deception you concealed in
the killing of al-Hussein, then calamity upon calamity has befallen you.
What there was in stripping the son of Fatima of his rule
was not such that, had it spared you one day, it would have sufficed.
Alas for the body left bare upon the open ground,
a corpse kissed by the edges of your blades.
Alas for the dust-stained cheek that your foolish ones
furiously furrowed with the points of their spears (2)

What a calamity—that they gave al-Hussein to drink
from the cup of the dust, naught but the soil

Pass by the grave of al-Hussein,
and say to his pure bones

O Mary, arise and lament your master,
and over al-Hussein aid me with your weeping

Pass by the grave of al-Hussein,
and say to his pure bones

I shall weep for them as long as a rider makes pilgrimage to God,
and as long as a dove coos upon the trees.
O eye, weep for them, and be generous with tears,
for the time has come for pouring and outpouring.
The daughters of Ziyad are sheltered in palaces,
while the family of the Messenger of God are in the wastelands.
The dwellings of the Messenger of God have become desolate,
while the family of Ziyad dwell in chambers.
The family of the Messenger of God—their bodies are emaciated,
while the family of Ziyad are stout-necked.
The family of the Messenger of God—their throats are made to bleed,
while the family of Ziyad are mistresses of the bridal canopies.
The family of the Messenger of God—their women are taken captive,
while the family of Ziyad are safe in their dwellings.
When they are wronged, they stretch toward their wrongers
hands held back from vengeance.
I shall weep for them as long as a sunrise scatters light upon the earth
and the caller to goodness calls to the prayers,
and as long as a sun rises and its setting draws near—
by night I weep for them, and by the morns (2)

Where is the protection, when in the plains your blood
was shed by the sword of Umayya and its spear?
Where is the protection, when these your dismembered bodies
remained three days in the scorching heat of its wastes?
Where is the protection, when these your sons
lie slain, their necks plundered by the swords?
Where is the protection, when these your children
were slaughtered thirsting in the soil of its courtyards?
Where is the protection, when these your maidens
were carried upon the camels' bare backs among its enemies—
carried, against the will of religion, while bereaved,
tearful, repeating their groaning sighs?

So who shall console Fatima, after Ahmad,
for the killing of her sons and the captivity of her daughters? (1)