Aside from series of human figures...

Aside from series of human figures, there are many series of twelve to be found in the Bible. Among these are passages containing twelve sections, and passages containing twelve references to a particular word. The former type is particularly fruitful. There are a number of such passages in the Book of Psalms, including many Psalms of twelve verses each, and most notably the series of twelve Psalms entitled Psalms of Asaph.

A careful comparison of the twelve Psalms of Asaph to the names of the twelve sons of Ishmael, which give the clues to the characteristics of each of the twelve slots, shows that these Psalms reflect the character of each of the twelve Imams. We shall focus specifically on Psalm 74, which is, within this schema, prophetic of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn (as). It is the third of the Psalms of Asaph. 1 ¶ O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?

why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? The maschil is a didactic Psalm, one for instruction. The instruction is not necessarily in the wisdom genre, nor even law. It can be instruction in prophecy in the sense of future events. The content of this Psalm appears strange as a subject of instruction, since it is couched in words of appeal to God to intervene in a difficult situation.

In fact, this appeal to intervene is the anguish the Psalmist feels as he contemplates the future event about which he is instructing. The word Asaph means a convener or collector, and is probably a title conferred on the one who convened the liturgical choir established by David (as), noted in 1 Chronicles 6:39. This may have been taken as a personal name, or having been born to the post may have been given a name appropriate to his activity.

As the prophet contemplates the tragedy of Karbala’, he exclaims these words in anguish. It is possible that David (as) wrote this Psalm, although many researchers suggest that it was written by Asaph. It is also possible that David (as) was an ancestor of Imam Husayn (as) through a marriage contracted when he was a refugee among the Arab Kedarites, from whom the prophet Muhammad (as) is descended.

Whether or not the prophet sees Imam Husayn (as) as a son, his anguish is similar to that of those who are horrified in all generations by the suffering he went through. The Hebrew expression does not imply that God is the originator of the tragedy or that it is a punishment.