Vision of Karbala

Here's the tale of my nightly trance

The Vision of Karbala in a deathly dance

When a Martyr great faced the lance,

Of shameful Shimr for Islam to enhance,

No war of weapons or battles' sound

Equals this tragedy all world round,

No hero hooked to holiness stood

With such head held high without shelter or food.

His trumpet spake not to an armed throng

But to seventy-two saints, the celestial strong

They all sang their heavenly song

Giving their all to avenge a wrong.

Satanic sceptres arranged with awful eye

This orgy of blood without a sigh

While our Sovereign Lord was passing by

In scorching sand to answer people's cry.

For Islam's unity he surrendered his head

With his darling children he nobly fed

The starving Ummat on its death-bed

Because through sacrifice are nations made!*

Notes:

L. 4 Shimr, full name Shimr b. Dhel-Jawshan, was the most notorious figure in the Ashura incident.. He symbolizes cruelty and atrocity because he was reportedly the person who decapitated Imam al-Hussein. He instigated and dispatched his men to attack and plunder the tents on Imam al-Hussein's front.

Anonymous

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

Other links:

The Day of Ashura

Vale of Sorrow

Hussein of Karbala