The Imam Bara

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! Hussein!

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! Hussein!*

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.

By Sarojini Naidu

Taken from: Ashura poems in English Compiled by Muhammad Reza Fakhr Rohani

Other links:

The Day of Ashura

A Poem for Arbaeen