O body...

O body, trampled, fouled, disdained, Which charmed the gazer's eye, The blood from out thy veins that drained Was heaven's electuary; No horses hooves were ever stained In so divine a dye. O barren plain of Karbala, With herb, nor yet with sod Be clad eternally; for ah! There, overwhelmed, down-trod, The holy son of Fatima Gave up his soul to God!* * Khurshed, ed., Imam Husain, 2nd ed., pp. 136-140. L. 19. Kufa, or al-Kufa (Arabic al-K?fa), is a town on western bank of the Euphrates.

It is now quite close to al-Najaf. Al- Kufa served as a seat of Imam ?Al?'s government, hence a refuge and center for the Shiites. Just prior to the Karbala incident, several of its inhabitants wrote letters of invitation to Imam al-Husain; however, most of them betrayed him and participated in the unbalanced war against him in Karbala.

51 Mariam Rizvi : Untitled Poem Peace, with sception and hope, I seek, (congruity's scope I know is bleak) To mend I crave (rather than kill) To spill blood, abhor I will. Intend I do, no force to use (If sense in you I can infuse) 5 But the rules, supreme, of the divine faith Resolved I am, to defend till death. Face your hostile moves I will. Thought accord I covet, seek peace still. A holy war it means indeed If waged to crush the devil's creed.

No rancour, `against you,' I hold But faith do cherish - as I told. Islam I will resolutely shield Burnt will stand and never yield. Would welcome death (and make it tame) Would rather die than live in shame. Your Prophet's scion I'm - you know At least some regard to his name show. His singular dictum is my creed: "Universal good" I adore, indeed. Ali, the paragon, the seraphic Imam Champ of the faith, the shield of Islam Inimitable, impeccable: I am his son His peerless attributes I have won.

My heart is virtues' abode and nest Blessedness harbours in my breast. Muhammad came in the kingdom of God, as a messenger of peace as the master of creed. He influenced the world with Ali's help, and all the sons from his daughter's breed. Fatima the lady of God's paradise, Ali the warrior, the leader, the wise. Hassan, the heir of eternal lore, Hussain, the martyr, the heaven's door. Call Ali in the trouble, Almighty says, because in his presence the evil decays.

He's the lion of God, he's the sword of God, and all his believers are one righteous squad. Islam's prosperity is the gift of Hussain, In the way of God, he sacrificed his clan.