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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Uprising of Ashura and Responses to Doubts Reciting Elegies in the Form of Prose Some people ask: Why do the Shi‘ahs recite elegies when mourning over the awliya’ of Allah? Were these practices prevalent among the people who came before? Did the Prophet of Allah (S) and his (as) participate in these practices when mourning for great people?

Did the Holy Prophet’s (S) companions and those generations that came immediately after them take part in mourning practices or not? With attention to history, we come to the conclusion that reciting prose was a common practice when mourning over the awliya’ of Allah during the early days of Islam. We will now refer to some examples: A.

Reciting mournful songs for the awliya’ of Allah Upon study of the history of Islam, one can see that the Prophet of Allah (S) and his companions used to recite elegies. We will now refer to some examples: 1. The Holy Prophet (S) recited elegies in the form of prose Halabli narrates from Ibn Mas‘ud, “We did not see the Prophet of Allah weep for someone as much as he did for Hamzah. He put Hamzah’s corpse in the direction of the Qiblah and stood over his deathbed.

After that, he cried loudly and nearly passed out. He recited, ‘O uncle of the Prophet of Allah! O lion of Allah! O Hamzah! O doer of good works! O Hamzah! O repeller of sorrows! O supporter! O protector of the Prophet of Allah!’”[^1] 2. Fatimah al-Zahra (as) recited elegies in the form of prose Anas ibn Malik recounts, “When I was returning from burying the Prophet of Allah, Fatimah looked at me and said, ‘O Anas!

How did you manage to drop clay on the head of Allah’s Prophet?’ Then, she started crying, and called out, ‘O my father! You who accepted call of Allah! O my father! You who have gone to the presence of Allah! O my father! You who answered call of Allah!’”[^2] 3. A’ishah recited elegies in the form of prose Ibn ‘Abd Rabbih says, “‘A’ishah stood beside the tomb of Abu Bakr and said, ‘The biggest affliction for me, after the loss of the Holy Prophet, is the loss of you’.”[^3] 4.