Friday, December 18, 2009

Imam Shafi's Elegy for Imam Hussain (Peace be upon him)

My heart sighed, for my innermost being was in dejection;
Sleep no longer came, and sleeplessness was bewildering.
O who shall be the bearer of a message from me to Husayn,
(Though the hearts and minds of some may disapprove!)
Slaughtered, though without sin himself,
His shirt as if dyed through with crimson.
Now the sword itself wails, and the spear shrieks,
And the horse which once only whinnied, laments.
The world quaked for the sake of the Family of Muhammad;
For their sake, the solid mountains might have melted away.
Heavenly bodies sunk, the stars trembled,
Oh veils were torn, and breasts were rent!
He who asks blessing for the one sent from the Tribe of Hashim,
But attacks his sons;truly, that is strange!
And if my sin is love of the Family of Muhammad:
Then that is a sin which I do not repent.

Imam Shafi'i (May Allah be pleased with him) said:

"They said, 'You are a Rafidi!', and I said, 'But no,
Nor is my religion nor are my beliefs of that kind ...
'But if love of the Prophetic Household be Rafidism,
Then I am the most Rafidi of the servants of God!"

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