‘Husayn is the lantern of guidance and the ship of salvation...

‘Husayn is the lantern of guidance and the ship of salvation,’ as the Messenger of Allah salla-llahu-alayhi-wa-aalih said. This hadith or prophetic tradition depicts the world in the finest of ways in order to bring us closer to understanding the true nature and reality of this world. It likens this world to the dark depths of the ocean from which there is no salvation except by means of a ship and there is no way to escape from its glooms except by a lantern. This is a splendid simile.

Man in this world is in need of a lantern to light for him the way otherwise he will be lost in the darkness of ignorance and poverty and illness and will fall into the abysses and will not be able to perceive and hence avoid the wild animals and beasts which seek to prey on him. He is also in need of a ship, which will preserve him from…