Paida Shua-e-Mehr Ki Miqraz Jab Hui

Stanza 1

When the scissors of the sun's rays appeared,
the long feathers of night's peacock were hidden away,
and the locks of Laila, whose title is Venus, were cut off;
like Majnun's, the robe of dawn was torn right through.
The skilful sky was anxious to mend it:
the day broke into four pieces to make the patches.

Stanza 2

The Farhad of the sun took up this course:
he settled on this Bestoon mountain of the sky,
and striking with the gleaming axe of his rays
he brought the milk-stream of dawn out of the darkness.
But strange was the state of the King's child left without milk:
in the river of milk rose the cry 'Alas, Asghar!'

Stanza 3

Joseph suddenly sank into the black well,
that is, the radiant moon set;
Jonah came out of the mouth of the fish of night,
that is, the bright orb rose in the east.
The sun was at war with the Pharaoh of night:
the day was Moses, and the sun his shining hand.

Stanza 4

Was it dawn, or the torn collar of the sky,
or the face of the Messiah drained of colour?
Was it the sun, or a tear dropped from the Throne,
or Fatima's lament that had reached the sky?
Do not call it the sun: it was a scar on the breast of dawn;
the house of hope of the Prophet's family was without a lamp.

Stanza 5

The white day, the Joseph of the world, veiled by night,
lay bound in distress in the well of the west;
the water-carrier of the sky took up the bucket of the sun
and tied to it, gleaming, the rope of its rays;
seating Joseph in the bucket of the sun, he drew him from the well
by the road of the west and brought him into the east.

Stanza 6

The dawn, a worshipper with a shining heart, came out from the horizon;
the prayer-niche of the sky was lit by the dawn;
when whiteness spread the prayer-mat of the old man, Dawn,
the bright morning sun became his place of prostration.
Night, as it set, bowed down in salutation;
the planets became the seven limbs that touch the ground in prostration.

Stanza 7

Wherever there had been darkness there was light;
the musk of night turned to camphor and vanished from the world,
as if the rust had been cleaned from a mirror;
the book of the dark night was cancelled.
How lasting was the ink in the pen of God's power!
The sun was the theme of the letter written to the motes.

Stanza 8

The golden bird spread its wings in the air
and came to perch on the roof of the fourth heaven;
the grains of the stars that lay scattered here and there
it picked up, every one, in its golden beak.
The heat of the sun's beauty put the water to shame;
in the sky the spring of the moon ran dry.

Stanza 9

But the huma of high fortune had broken wings;
apart from tears, no water or grain was to be seen;
Sakina and Asghar were in a sorry state from thirst:
faces pale, lips blue, tongues dry, eyes red.
He, weeping, was asking for milk, milk, by signs;
she was crying 'Water, water!' to Zahra's darling.

Stanza 10

The grains of the stars still lay on the threshing-floor of the sky
when ill-omened Ibn Saad began to sow the seed of cruelty:
he called out to everyone that grain would be shared out,
and the grain-seekers swarmed like ants.
He whose father was the dispenser of the world's daily bread
had been without food or water in Karbala since the seventh.

Stanza 11

The tyrants spread kerchiefs on the ground;
Umar ibn Saad laid out equal shares for all,
and handed the officers purse upon purse,
and showed them sealed bags of gold as well.
The schemer, zealous in his kind of fairness, opened his lips;
alas, that seller of barley showed off his wheat like this:

Stanza 12

'Come, you who are true to your salt, do not lose heart;
kill the hungry man hungry and the thirsty man thirsty;
set in order the caliphate of the son of Muawiya;
climb onto the Sayyid's chest and take off his head.
Now it is grain; tomorrow it will be gold, estates and wealth:
if you slaughter Shabbir, all of it is lawful for you.'

Stanza 13

When little by little Zainab heard this clamour,
she wept unbidden over Husain's hunger;
she turned now to the wilderness, now towards Yasrib,
and called, 'Where are you, pride of the prophets?
My life for you: are you sleeping in your grave this night,
or weeping for your grandson in Karbala?

Stanza 14

Grandfather, these who recite the creed torment us unjustly;
they drink themselves but give us no water.
Why do you not come to see justice done?
At least ask them: is this how one invites guests?
Grain is being shared out in the army of Syria,
while your family weeps in its third day of hunger.'

Stanza 15

The Imam, whose home is the sky, was seated on his prayer-mat
when suddenly he heard of the sharing out of grain;
he gave his companions, at little cost, a precious grain,
a precious grain whose kernels were the nine heavens:
in exchange for wheat he gave them a home in Adam's paradise;
a home? He made them masters of the universe.

Stanza 16

There, having given out the grain, Umar ibn Saad addressed them all:
'Eat, for now you will get no food for many hours.
In this battle there is nothing but fear and doubt:
loss of faith, fear for life, dread for honour;
the community stands against a glorious Imam,
whose father cut the wing of Gabriel.'

Stanza 17

The founders of cruelty stepped up and said to Umar ibn Saad,
'Our food is this: that the women of his house stay hungry.'
Naufal cried, 'We have had our fill of water and food;
today I have sworn to kill the standard-bearer.'
Shimr cried, 'We shall eat only
when we bring back the head of the man three days thirsty.'

Stanza 18

Umar ibn Saad said, 'Such proud talk is not fitting;
cutting off the heads of lions is no easy mouthful;
you feel no shame at baseless claims;
no one in the world has ever fought hungry and thirsty.
Had you not settled at ease on the river bank,
then I would see how you would fight Husain.'

Stanza 19

When Umar ibn Saad said this, they went off quietly:
the fools gave away their faith for the cash of life;
they all took the grain, pledged to slaughter the Sayyid.
And here the Iraqi horses of Umar ibn Saad were saddled;
Umar ibn Saad chose his weapons of war;
his servants took the swords down from the rack and brought them.

Stanza 20

Then that deceitful man began to put on his weapons of war;
when the helmet was set on his ill-starred head, he lost himself;
it was as if an eclipse had come with neither moon nor sun,
or the black fortune of unbelief had mounted the gallows of his frame.
The breaches that Yazid had made in Islam
that foul body turned into its coat of mail.

Stanza 21

The spear of Sinan ibn Anas was the hand of tyranny:
this spear, and the breast of Husain: think on it!
The quiver too was foul-mouthed, after the manner of Hurmala,
as if he had no tongue but the arrow.
His first arrow flew at the King of creation,
and at the last, Hurmala's arrow at Asghar's throat.

Stanza 22

That self-worshipper grew proud of the size of his army;
he said, 'Victory is ours, and defeat is Shabbir's.'
First the tyrant secured the Euphrates:
he posted ten thousand quick-handed men in mail
and raised a wall of iron along the river bank;
the river raised the cry 'Alas, Husain!'

Stanza 23

Blocking the landing places, he cried, 'Listen, all of you:
I will disgrace whoever does not obey this order:
give not one drop of water to the King of the age,
not for washing the dead, nor for ablutions, nor for drinking;
let the Imam of Hijaz not come through his thirst alive;
let the ship of the Prophet's family sink on dry land.'

Stanza 24

He picked a thousand unworthy young men
and set them on every side for this duty:
those mean-spirited men were to stand rank on rank, cups in hand,
and when the pure pearls of the King of Najaf cried 'Thirst!',
these shameless men were to show them the water and pour it away,
and having poured out the water, shed the blood of the parched.

Stanza 25

Then he posted four thousand black-faced archers
at the four corners around the King's tents;
he left the Sayyids no corner of refuge.
The spirit of Batool was weeping and crying, 'Alas, alas!
I hear that the Sayyids die for their honour;
let me see where Shabbir takes up his stand.'

Stanza 26

When the dawn of Zainab's unveiling appeared,
and the last call to prayer was given in the army of God,
this lament arose among the women of Mustafa's house:
'Now the spring of Zahra's garden has turned to autumn;
the Throne will tremble at Fatima's cries and wailing
when Zainab takes leave of Husain.'

Stanza 27

Here grief crowded in upon the good women of the house;
there the men of Syria seized the Euphrates;
the enemy closed in on the virtuous King;
darkness closed over the water of life.
As soon as the night was gone, fortune turned;
as soon as morning came, darkness fell in the tent.

Stanza 28

How bright-faced is the army of God in the presence of the dawn!
The houri of dawn has come to be wed to their worship;
from their faces the sun rises, from their brows the dawn appears;
on one side is their light, on the other the light of dawn.
Heads are bowed in prostration, bodies sit and stand in prayer:
what a spring of dawn there is in the army of the Imam!

Stanza 29

When the angels call out 'To horse!',
the warriors finish their prayer and lift their prayer-mats,
yet they go on reciting the prayers that follow;
they come to bow down at their master's threshold:
all those good men lay their foreheads at the door,
one sky and seventy-two crescent moons.

Stanza 30

Like the moon, they are worshippers who keep the night alive;
like the sun, they are the God-fearing of the age;
like the sky, they bow night and day;
like the earth, they lie humble in prostration.
Because of their prostrations the very dust is at prayer;
the rosary in their hands proclaims that God is Great.

Stanza 31

Look at their humility: their whole bodies tremble;
ask where their hearts turn: their hearts are towards the Imam;
what piety! These good men are free of all show;
this, and nothing else, is what is called prayer.
The height of their worship shines over the world:
their prayer-mats are on the earth, their prayer in heaven.

Stanza 32

One man's gleaming sword kisses his hand;
another wears a rosary of Najaf pearls round his neck;
one embraces the thought of the houri of martyrdom;
one brave man's eye, as if holding out a cup, is on Kausar.
They say, 'On the path of God there is no lack of honour;
he who does not become dust on this path is no man.'

Stanza 33

They count failure in the world as success;
grief is glad in their hearts, and their hearts are glad in grief;
in every limb, as in the heart, is the remembrance of God;
in the hour of fighting in God's way they are masters of reciting the Quran.
Their arms for battle are poised like a pair of scales:
are they on saddles, or are they Qurans open on their stands?

Stanza 34

Such is the dignity of Akbar and Abbas in the army:
the one a candle in the gathering, the other spring in the garden;
the one the sight in the eyes, the other the calm in the breast;
the one the strength in the arms, the other Zulfiqar in the grip.
This is the likeness of the two in the army of God:
if the one is the pearl of Najaf, the other is Haidar's ruby.

Stanza 35

The one is the eye within the lashes, the other the heart within the breast;
the one Haidar in the Kaaba, the other the Prophet in Medina;
one Joseph in the well, the other, as it were, Noah in the ark;
the one the water of life in the spring, the other gold in the treasury;
the one the lustre in pearls, the other one rose among thousands;
the one the fragrance in flowers, the other the brilliance among stars.

Stanza 36

Each dawn the light of sun and moon grows less,
but look at the radiance their cheeks cast:
that brave one is a sun, this generous one a moon;
on one side sunlight, on the other moonlight.
No such light was ever found in the moon;
the sun never saw such sunlight even in a dream.

Stanza 37

By 'By the sun' the Messenger of God is meant;
all the rays of that sun are in Akbar's face;
Abbas's title is the Moon of the Banu Hashim.
These two, day and night, are the two doors of their kindness and bounty,
standing open every morning and evening to all creatures:
the one is kind to the motes, the other kind to the stars.

Stanza 38

Akbar says to Abbas, 'Well, uncle,
what will happen? The cruel army is round the tents as well;
I fear greatly for my mother's veil.
We too will take up our position for battle,
with no distance from the tents and no parting from my father;
if it is so, the battle will go well.

Stanza 39

My mother has said, "I will not forgive you my milk,
Akbar, if an arrow strikes the King while you live."
I will guard my father in the hour of battle,
but it would be a calamity if the women were made captive.
Well, now we shall not let go the hem of the gentle King;
come what may, we shall not leave Husain's side.'

Stanza 40

Abbas says, 'Your uncle would give his life for you;
this is the honour of Zainab's upbringing: my life for it!'
He asks, 'Tell me, what is your intent?'
and this one passes his hand over his face and says, 'You will see:
men give up their lives to keep their word;
today my post will be at the Euphrates.'

Stanza 41

The sons left by Zainab say, swaying with eagerness,
'In this charge our lassos will reach beyond their ranks.'
It is plain from the fine words of Hasan's son:
'I shall have peace only when, like lightning, I have wiped out Azraq's portion.'
Today the men of Haidar make great claims:
if they wished, they could take west and east where they stand.

Stanza 42

How could the sons of the Lion of the Almighty not be lions?
These thirsty ones drank the milk of Sayyid mothers;
though for two days they have had neither water nor food,
the glow and the radiance of their faces are the same.
The Sayyids stay cheerful in every state:
fed or unfed, a lion's mouth stays red.

Stanza 43

What radiance and clarity shine from their faces!
The city of Aleppo merely holds up a mirror to them;
the land of Tartary is a slave to a single strand of their hair;
this garden of a face is paradise in spring.
How bright are the faces of these rosy, slender youths:
on trees of flowers grow fruits that are suns.

Stanza 44

Their brows have left the crescent some small name;
their faces have put an end to the full moon of the fourteenth night.
On what ground could the full moon rival their faces?
It lasts two weeks; these are kind for ever.
These features are all written by the hand of divine power;
their radiant faces are where beauty and grace rise.

Stanza 45

The mirror that looks so fine before the world
looks so only because it knows them; what other reason?
Even now, again and again, deceived by these veils,
the reflection wanders from place to place in the mirror's house;
but this mirror has fallen from the niche of the heart,
for the mirror's reflection has turned its face away.

Stanza 46

How can the teeth of these heroes be compared with pearls?
Even the two letters of durr, pearl, stand apart from each other,
while their teeth sit close together with no gap at all;
it is far from respectful to call them pearls.
Their teeth are gems from the treasury of the Sustainer;
the hearts of lustrous pearls are pierced with shame.

Stanza 47

Their faces are the spring of life for their friends;
the line of their lips is a Zulfiqar for their enemies;
the grace of their pure mouths is for the whole world;
here there is no room even for Jesus to breathe a word.
The casket of the mouth is raised in rank by its teeth:
they are the oyster whose pearls are born in its own house.

Stanza 48

The mighty are laid low by the short swords of their lashes;
here, full of life, the pupils of their eyes are bloodthirsty lions;
the gazelles of their eyes are bold at bringing down prey;
these are not tears but lions in the reed-bed of the lashes.
For honour's sake every horseman has tears in his eyes:
a glance is a sword, a moist eyelash a spear.

Stanza 49

The bow itself has girded its waist and stands armed to fight in God's way;
in its anger it is all skin stretched over bone;
the rainbow praises this bow with all its heart;
the lancer of the sky begs this spear for quarter.
Who has the strength to argue with this spear?
Like a tongue, it is quick with its reply.

Stanza 50

In battle their shield is like the full moon,
from which a hundred crescents of swords have been carved;
yet in fighting in God's way it is the same full moon that never wanes:
truly, these good men of Quraish stand for the truth.
So this shield on their shoulders is the proof
that they are the back and shelter of the Kaaba of the Lord of glory.

Stanza 51

Suddenly a cry of weeping rose from the camp;
the praying son of Khair-un-Nisa rose from his prayer-mat,
and the green curtain at the door of the Family of the Cloak was lifted.
Bano's voice came: 'My guardian is rising to leave!'
Sakina became resigned to being an orphan:
awake since the last watch of the night, at this moment she fell asleep.

Stanza 52

Kulsoom had resigned herself to losing her wronged brother;
Zainab too had given away all her mother had earned;
Bano too had accepted the loss of her veil;
who, alas, would now hold back the King of Karbala?
Abid had said, 'On the path of the Creator
we shall bear the lash, father, even in fever.'

Stanza 53

The servants brought the noble King's Arab horse to the door;
the master, who wore robes of honour, came out wearing a shroud,
and the stirrups took both his feet against the horse's flanks.
Zainab cried out, 'Alas, Husain, far from home, alas!'
Michael wept, the Trusted Spirit lamented;
the Angel of Death fainted at these preparations for death.

Stanza 54

When the ranks of the army of Syria were drawn up on the field,
every swordsman thought of shame and fame;
the Imam's mount came to the door of the tent;
Death overturned the seat of the Best of Mankind.
The world went dark in the eyes of the women
as Zahra's moon set out with his stars.

Stanza 55

The dust of the King's riding rose to sit upon the sky;
every mote of it had the dignity of the Pleiades;
the King was the sun on the saddle, a fierce lion the guard of the road:
Zahra's sun was riding upon Leo.
All the noble one's companions had formed a ring around him,
or they were full moons around the sun.

Stanza 56

Where he had bought some land for graves,
there the mount of the King whose seat is the sky halted;
looking at his army, the Imam of the faith said,
'Here, Karbala: God has given you these dwellers;
they are all sons of the Lion of God, darlings of Zahra,
pearls of Najaf, stars of the exalted Throne.'

Stanza 57

The Sultan of Karbala was saying this to Karbala
when the host of cruelty surged forward in fury like a flood;
the shameless son of Saad began to draw up his ranks:
he put Shees in command of the right wing,
gave him four thousand hand-picked spearmen,
gave them swift horses and new clothes.

Stanza 58

To Azraq he gave five thousand archers of his own,
and with them adorned the left wing of the army of cruelty;
and giving him ten thousand treacherous young men,
he openly entrusted a wing to Hanzala.
The Prophet and Ali embraced each other and wept on the field:
all these preparations were made to cut off one head.

Stanza 59

Having drawn up the ranks, Umar ibn Saad turned to his son:
'Akbar is the Imam's son; you are my heart's blood;
ride this way and that and show them your splendour.'
He called to the commanders, 'Come, men of skill,
go before the army of God and recite your boasts;
rear your horses, shake your spears, recite your boasts!'

Stanza 60

Hurmala stepped forward and showed his bowstring and arrow:
the King remembered the little one bringing up his milk;
when the lance of Ibn Numair flashed as it shook,
the tomb of the noble Amir shook in Najaf;
Ahmad the Messenger came from Medina clutching his heart;
Husain clasped Akbar to his breast.

Stanza 61

Flashing his sword, Shimr came forward from the army of Syria
and, looking the Imam's army in the eye, said,
'How this hates the very name of the thirsty one!
My dagger keeps leaping from its sheath;
I will show the Sayyids neither mercy nor kindness;
if there were five throats, I would cut them all alike.'

Stanza 62

Suddenly the son of Saad's son rode out,
with companions and friends of his own age on either side,
servants ahead of him carrying sword and shield in their hands,
and a slave holding a golden parasol open over his head.
He was put to naught before glorious Akbar
as Pharaoh was before Moses, son of Imran.

Stanza 63

Husain's men said together, 'O King of the nations,
how long must we keep silent? We are choking.
The founders of cruelty are about to sound their horns,
and here there are no ranks, no positions, no drum, no standard.
Now, O vizier of the Hand of God, holding back is torment:
foxes are leaping in the faces of lions; it is an outrage!'

Stanza 64

The King said, 'Why should we think of drawing up ranks?
There they have a host of soldiers and many standards;
here, never mind friends, even kin are few, and life too is short.
The wronged will swear by the wrong done to me;
every year in this month all will throw dust in mourning;
on this day the believers will carry my taziya.'

Stanza 65

A voice came from the Throne: 'O bearer of affliction,
on that side are slaves of gold, on your side is God.
Come, send quickly for the standard of the army of the Almighty;
the prophets stand in rows to behold it.
What banner or ensign has ever won such greatness?
My dominion lies in the shadow of your standard.'

Stanza 66

The King of the nations called to the famed Abbas:
'Come, you who bear the mark of the Lion of God, bring the standard;
be assured, I shall give this standard to you.'
At the King's command Abbas went towards the women's tents;
when he reached the tent of the noble King,
he saw the standard standing there, waiting.

Stanza 67

Seeing the face of noble Abbas, Zainab
rose and herself gave the standard to her younger brother;
seven times she breathed the Nad-e-Ali prayer over his arms;
the lion bowed his head and kissed her feet.
Pleased with the bearing of God's devoted one,
Zainab pressed her brother's head to her breast.

Stanza 68

Abbas went off bearing the banner of the King of the nations;
with what splendour he went, raising Ali's standard,
as if he carried the title-deed to the garden of Iram!
The women followed, holding the sash of the standard.
Zainab cried, 'He brings back the King of Najaf to me:
with what splendour Abbas goes, bearing the banner!'

Stanza 69

'O Lord, may the name and trace of the banner's bearer endure;
may this sun never set, this rose never know autumn;
may the army endure, may Husain live, may this banner endure;
may Ali's protection rest on this standard-bearer;
may the moon of the King of Badr and Hunain shine on;
may whoever is Husain's enemy be laid in the dust.'

Stanza 70

So splendidly did the holy standard of the Messenger go forward:
all the prophets went in its train with sorrowful hearts;
at every step the cherubim of the Throne came down;
Batool, bareheaded, walked with the houris beneath the standard.
On one side came a young man in green, weeping,
giving himself at every step for the bearer of the standard.

Stanza 71

When Abbas came to the King carrying the standard,
Fortune followed behind him with pomp and dignity;
in kindness and grace the King kissed his shoulders,
and renowned Abbas bowed and touched his feet.
He said, 'You have made me stand out among them all;
you have made one without wings into Jafar the Flier.'

Stanza 72

Suddenly Fizza came running, distraught;
she whispered something in the King's ear and went back sadly;
Zahra's son was troubled beyond measure.
The companions came close and began to ask,
'What did Fizza come to say among men outside the household?'
He said, 'She brought a message from helpless Zainab.'

Stanza 73

Abbas folded his hands and said, 'O Imam,
surely there is no objection to my carrying the standard?
Aun and Muhammad are her sons; I am a servant.'
The King said, 'No; this is the message she has sent me:
"You are master; give whatever rank you please,
but make my Akbar commander of the army."'

Stanza 74

All said, 'That is our wish too:
our heads are offered for Akbar, our lives for you.
Over there the son of Umar ibn Saad commands the army;
let the likeness of Mustafa be our commander too.
Though he may deck his son in a hundred thousand jewels,
where will he find the likeness of Ahmad the Messenger?'

Stanza 75

Then the King set in order the ranks of the army of God;
the face of the earth was made beautiful by the ranks of the army,
as the beauty of a face is heightened by the nose;
until then the face of the earth had always looked bare.
When the ranks of the army of the faith were arrayed on the field,
a straight nose appeared on the face of the earth.

Stanza 76

To Habib, his special friend, he gave the right wing,
and the left wing the King gave to Zuhair;
he lit up the centre with the children.
He asked Akbar, 'Well, darling of the Lion of the Almighty,
will you take charge of this little army?
Will you be its commander for an afternoon?'

Stanza 77

He said, 'Who is waiting for the afternoon?
If you command it, your servant will give his life now.'
The King said, 'I am sure of it, my rose-cheeked one;
your title, "he who died young", is plain to see.'
When the King, high as the Throne, made him commander,
the army held up their heads in their hands as an offering.

Stanza 78

In the tents the daughters of Ali were in dread;
lifting the curtain, they kept looking at their protectors;
they kept spreading prayer-mats to pray;
now and then, in their fear, they laid aside their jewellery.
When the din of the bands frightened the children,
Bano wept with her hand on Asghar's heart.

Stanza 79

Beating her head, Zainab was saying,
'Alas, alas! How will the life of the King of mankind be saved?
From here to the gates of Kufa the armies throng.
Call a messenger, write a letter, and send this message:
"They have all surrounded the light of Fatima's eyes;
come, people of Medina, save Husain!"'

Stanza 80

Weeping, she cried, 'Mother, help!
Lady, a dark cloud has covered your moon today;
Zainab's brother is ringed by oppression and cruelty.
Father, save him: it is the hour for removing difficulties.'
Now and then she called out to the Prophet:
'Grandfather, your sun is in eclipse!'

Stanza 81

Patience itself took pride in the patience of the King who knew God;
composure would have given itself for the composure of Ali's son;
the river's heart turned to water at the Sayyid's thirst;
despair was all around, and the only hope was of dying.
His mother wept on the battlefield, his sister in the tent;
loneliness itself wept over Husain's loneliness.

Stanza 82

At that moment Shimr and Umar ibn Saad came before the King
and said, 'What became of your army, O King of the little army?
Well, who is ruined, we or your honour?
So you were proud of this little army! Bravo!
What is left to you, that you still stand on your dignity?
If you give your allegiance, there is quarter for you even now.'

Stanza 83

Saying 'There is no power but in God', the master of guidance replied,
'Though now I have neither that army nor my loyal standard-bearer,
even in this helplessness my courage is the same;
I will never give allegiance, however great the cruelty;
by Allah, I will not put my hand in the hand of a sinner;
my head will go, but my word will not change.'

Stanza 84

The tyrant cried, 'If you will not give your head, what will you do?
What power have you now to demand blood-money?
Take your two-pointed sword from its sheath and face us:
how will you fight after two days of hunger and thirst?
Even if your wrists had the strength of the Hand of God,
how will you show the strength of the Lion of the Almighty?'

Stanza 85

The King said, 'You think that Husain is helpless:
Husain is the grandson of the Prophet and master of creation;
Husain is a charger, son of Haidar-e-Karrar;
Husain is the wrath and majesty of the forgiving Creator.
I will come to the river bank and set a river of blood flowing;
I will show you the strength of the milk of one who went hungry.'

Stanza 86

When the King advanced, those tricksters drew back;
the people of error turned back to their places;
when he turned back his sleeve, both worlds were overturned;
when he laid his hand on the hilt, every heart burst.
An uproar of young and old spread over the age:
'The Zulfiqar of the noble Amir is being drawn!'

Stanza 87

The point of the sword came out of the sheath,
or the White Hand appeared from the sleeve;
a dragon came out of its cave breathing fire;
the sun of the sovereign of all creation was unveiled.
Those are not watermarks in the virtuous King's sword:
look, stars are shining in the crescent moon.

Stanza 88

As soon as it was drawn, Zulfiqar called out to the Hazrat:
'O guide, show me the killer of Asghar;
in which rank is the killer of the likeness of Mustafa?
Naufal, the shameless trickster, will be at the river;
I will not spare a single killer of Husain's men;
I will not leave Shimr or Ibn Saad alive.'

Stanza 89

Zulfiqar went forth, gathering up her skirts,
casting victory in the mould of her blade,
glaring with the eyes of her watermark,
with the locks of her grooves thrown over her shoulder.
Once drawn, she played this new game with the wretches:
she advanced seventy cubits with grace and coquetry.

Stanza 90

Was it the Saifi prayer going forth, or the sword of the Hand of God on its way?
The sword of sight hid itself in the sheath of the sky;
every bow, like a Sufi, went into its forty-day retreat;
existence perished, and safety itself was left unsafe.
At the flashing of that flame-showering blade beneath the sky,
thunder fell screaming on the head of the lightning.

Stanza 91

The eyes of the mail were enthralled by the sword;
the lances wasted away like straw;
the bows, terrified, clung to the shoulders;
the swords shrank back and hid in their hilts.
Weapons fell from hands, and hands from sleeves,
heads from bodies, feet from the field, and the field rose from the earth.

Stanza 92

So the sword flashed and swept this way and that;
the thunder cracked its whip and the lightning writhed;
it went among the army as a shaking fever;
the shroud of Hell's flames fitted their bodies exactly.
The hearts of those bound for the Fire burned in the heat of that fever,
and the sword vented a little of the fever in its heart.

Stanza 93

With grace and coquetry the Laila of victory and triumph went forth;
wherever she went, thousands became her Majnun;
she went through the enemy army like the news of death.
When the two-pointed sword fell upon the arrogant, self-willed heads,
it swept the field of battle clean and clear;
it broke the lines and scattered the ranks.

Stanza 94

When this pen of a sword moved across the page of the shield,
the shield went limp and its face changed;
at once the blade sank into the shield and came out the other side,
like a new moon passing through an eclipse.
The bodies of the fighters were neither west nor east,
yet upon them that crescent rose and set.

Stanza 95

The curve of the sword showed like a knitted brow;
as soon as it moved, the field looked as if an earthquake had struck;
souls fled from the trembling bodies
as people flee their houses in an earthquake.
It was death before their eyes, not a two-pointed sword;
those men of Khaibar's breed lost all sense of their bodies.

Stanza 96

The water of the sword's edge brought on the rains;
such a downpour set in that the clouds were put to shame;
the road of the hooves became the lane of darkness;
the colour fled from the army of Syria, and it became night.
There was a cry: 'We all long to see the sunlight;
the cloud of Ali's sword has spread, and heads are raining down.'

Stanza 97

The falcon of the sword sent the shields flying;
picking them out one by one, it sent the officers' heads flying;
it cut the daggers in two and sent the axes flying;
it drove back the heads and sent the ranks flying.
Such a wind of cutting blew on the field of battle
that on every side it threw dust over the fighting army.

Stanza 98

Coming and going in the dark, it was the water of life;
and in its light it was the great sun itself;
for bringing on darkness it was the night of Doom;
for it, coming out of the mouth was a mere word.
On the field it passed only over the throats of the unbelievers,
but in the cities it passed over tongues like news.

Stanza 99

At last they all cried out, 'For the Prophet's sake!
O sword, for the sake of Akbar's youth!
O sword, for the sake of the spirit of the conqueror of Khaibar!
O sword, for the sake of Asghar's infancy!
Give us a way to go to Kufa or to Syria;
we have met our punishment: now give us refuge!'

Stanza 100

Kissing the hilt, the King of the age called out,
'Enough, Zulfiqar, enough: all their bodies are trembling.'
The sword answered with a cry,
'I have already told your honour this:
I will fill the plains of Syria and Kufa with corpses;
I will rest only when I have left Shimr without breath.'

Stanza 101

'O Zulfiqar, enough: this is not to be, alas;
God is witness, you will not be able to cut off his head;
it is he who will cut the throat of sinless Shabbir:
it will be his dagger and the place the Prophet used to kiss.
Let it go: what business have you with killing Shimr?
O sword, this is the name of Husain's killer.'

Stanza 102

Weeping, the sword went back into its sheath,
and the King without an army was surrounded by the army of Syria;
angels came down from the sky to the Imam's stirrup;
in that throng each one was lamenting,
'O Lion of the Creator, save Husain;
come and hide Husain in the folds of your robe!'

Stanza 103

The angels went, throwing the healing dust upon their heads;
with their heart's blood their eyelashes were rosaries of rubies;
they had reached the sky when the heavens began to tremble,
and this lament went up from earth to heaven:
'Help! The earring of God's Throne has fallen;
see, the star of Khair-un-Nisa has fallen to the dust!'

Stanza 104

As soon as he fell to the ground, the King of the faith fainted;
even then no one came to give the thirsty one water:
one came and struck him with a dagger, another with a spear.
When the King opened his eyes, everyone trembled;
even the enemy cried out, 'This is the Prophet's flower;
in his eyes is plainly the glance of the Prophet's eyes.'

Stanza 105

But alas, alas, Shimr came forward and did a monstrous thing:
he set his boot on the chest and his dagger to the throat.
The beloved of the Almighty left his grave and came;
the King of the heirs ran weeping from Najaf;
Zahra cried, 'This is the peace of my troubled heart;
this is my Husain, oh, this is my Husain!

Stanza 106

Shimr, by the prophethood of Mustafa!
Shimr, by the imamate of Murtaza!
Shimr, by the sanctity of the Prophet's family!
Shimr, by the justice of the Almighty!
For the sake of the Prophet's soul and of Haidar's patience,
do not put out the lamp on the Prophet's grave!'

Stanza 107

From the doorway helpless Zainab too cried out, 'Alas, my brother!
Mother has come; let me too come out barefoot.'
Sakina said, 'Let me hold back the cruel dagger.'
Baqir cried, weeping, 'I would give a hundred lives for you;
perhaps he will stay his blade, seeing I am a child:
grandfather, let me come and lay my throat upon your throat.'

Stanza 108

Then, beneath the blade, the King of the nations turned and said,
'Zainab, I adjure you by the martyrdom of Shabbir:
take my orphans into the tent at once and sit them down;
my mind is distracted, and I am lost in the beauty of God.'
Zainab took the children and drew back from the doorway,
and here the place that Ahmad the Chosen used to kiss was cut.

Stanza 109

In the women's tents rose a clamour fit for the Day of Doom;
no calm was left in any breast, no peace in any heart.
Hearing the laments of Khair-un-Nisa at the place of slaughter,
Zainab cried, 'Ladies, Husain has been slain!'
It was the hour of the afternoon prayer when Zainab was parted from her brother;
by sunset Husain's household had been plundered.

Stanza 110

Enough, Dabeer: the tumult of this lament resounds everywhere;
the court of the King of the two Easts is being plundered;
before Zainab's eyes Husain's seat was burning;
the grave of the victor of Badr and Hunain was shaking.
Say to the Creator, 'Grant me the pearl of my desire:
show me the picture of the Hazrat's Karbala.'