(4) THE ORIGINS OF KARBALA'S TRAGEDY

 

Life is an eternal conflict of truth and evil

God having granted power to the devil

To rule the hearts of those who love this world

And care not the banner of truth to unfurl.

 

The forces of darkness were perturbed

For soon their kingdom would be disturbed

At first, they ridiculed and scoffed

To their dismay, they found themselves dwarfed.

 

They fumed and fret; threatened and cajoled

They offered Muhammad a chief's role

They asked him to stop preaching Islam

Or else they would cause him bodily harm.

 

Abu Sufyan was their chief - a mortal foe

The grandson of Ommaya, the lowest of low

The progeny of Abd Shams, the brother of Hashim

They were steeped in enmity, which was ever lasting.

 

Envious were they, of the position of Hashim

Whom God had honored with things everlasting

Muhammad was thus their bitter foe

Whom they longed to see cast low.

 

Karun, Firaun, Namarood and Suddad

The four aces of arch-devil Iblis' cards

Were the brains behind the notorious Abu Sufyan

To destroy Islam and cause Muhammad harm.

 

Harut and Marut, the two fallen angels, were glad

The four Aces had mastered everything evil and bad

Abu Sufyan became their living agent

To them his services he joyfully lent.

 

They issued the call, they summoned aid

Each helper, they said, would be well paid

Thus started persecution of the new faith,

With all means that symbolized envy and hate.

 

They thought to themselves, the easiest way,

We are Muslims why not say?

Hit from within the Hashemites

That would throttle Islam, without a fight.

 

The decree of God none can stop

It flows like a river, with a drop to start

None can withhold its onward march

Be they friends or foes at large.

 

And so was the case with Islam's flow

Many became Muslims, just for show

Pagans at heart, they hid their line

To wreck vengeance, in course of time.

 

They behaved as friends; they cloaked their pretense

For Muslims in name, were they from hence

They spread their tentacles, in many homes

They tightened their grip over Islam's dome.

 

Ali, they knew, was the seedling's strength

To guard it, he would go to any length

He would with pleasure sacrifice his rights

Rather than see Islam hurt in a fight.

 

They knew, that Ali was just a lad

When his mission, the Prophet declared

He was among the first to profess Islam

And stand by the Prophet through storm and calm.

 

When others ridiculed and threatened

He stood, by him alone, and unfrightened

He declared him his brother and heir

Destined to serve and his mission share.

 

They had heard Muhammad at Khybar declare

"This Alam is for one whose qualities are rare

He is the beloved of Muhammad and his God

Ever victorious is he, in the cause of Lord."

 

They had had also heard the sermon at Ghadir-e-khum

It left, for doubt, hardly any room

Ali was Muhammad's heir, by God's decree

Assigned to keep Islam pure and free.

 

They had watched him even before

How Ali in stature grew more and more

He slept in Prophet's bed in the midst of strife

While hundreds lay in ambush, each with a knife.

 

The Prophet's end was drawing near

The dissension started, as he had feared

He ordered the dissenter's to go to war

But they guessed what the order was for.

 

Death of the Prophet was a grievous blow

Old enmities erupted like a volcano

Busy with the funeral were the Hashemites,

Unheedful of the maneuverings and internal strife.

 

Abu Bakr was declared Caliph in the interim

He soon nominated Omar, to succeed him

The Caliphate became, thereafter, Othman's turn

Before the mantle, despite opposition, on Ali dawned.

 

Ali, with his characteristic zeal, lost no time

He acted sternly, to save Islam from further decline

Firmly entrenched in power by now, the Ommayad's frowned

And dared the simple and straightforward Ali for a showdown.

 

The hero of Islam knew neither malice nor fear

Renowned warriors had fled before him from the rear

He defeated the crafty Moawiyah, time and again

But alas! Treachery and trickery ultimately gained.

 

The internal rot had spread too deep, alas!

Corruption and nepotism was practiced en-masse

Ali, had soon to pay with his dear and precious life

Engrossed in prayers, he was struck with a knife.

 

And so was the case with his eldest son,

Most generous of all men was Hassan

He was fond of recluse and quietude

He was the symbol of patience and fortitude.

 

The roots of seedling were still shallow

A little shake up would render the ground fallow

Muhammad's labor would thus be wasted

Before the world its fruit had tasted.

 

And thus the treaty with Moawiyah Hassan chose

Rather than fight him like an open foe

The time was not ripe for the showdown

A lot remained for preparing the ground.

 

This he knew would fall to Husayn's lot

To put his foot down and stop the rot

It would cost his life there was no doubt

But it had to be timed the tyranny to oust.