I. Love
Think of five people
you owe everything in life to.
We all do.
A Father perhaps, a Sister,
a Teacher, a Friend, a lover ..
it could be anybody!
Stay faithful to them
and prepare yourself
to toss aside everything for them,
as if it were nothing,
even your life,
if it comes to that.
Bearing their love
like a flag,
with pride and courage,
like Abbas, the 'Alamdar',
and you would have loved,
and lived a life
worthy of a death
worth remembering!
II. Patience
Love like you are in no hurry,
nowhere else to get to,
no place else you'd rather be!
Love like the river loves the moon.
Patiently.
Waiting for the clouds to part,
to be able to catch just a glimpse.
Even if it were never to be!
Waiting like the Euphrates,
for Abbas,
to get to it, to fetch water
for the Children of the Prophet.
Rising and crashing
in helpless desperation!
Pining, writhing perhaps in the knowledge
of the tragedy that was to be!
Love like there's no truth
greater than the one truth your heart stands testimony to!
And you'll see, when your heart bleeds,
and you toss that truth up at the skies,
it shall rain blood,
and when you hurl it at the earth,
it turns into seeds,
from which an eternal crop
of resistance shall grow!
Love patiently,
burning through the night,
believing the dark doesn't stand a chance!
If you must love at all,
love, believing there's
no other reason to be!
III. Derision
Let them.
They mock you and spread lies,
when they know they can't contain your truth.
And so to control the narrative,
they deal in lies.
They'll call you rebels without a cause,
they'll say you defy, defame!
They'll hire minions
to ridicule your ideas
and laugh behind your back,
in condescension,
and to plot your fall.
Let them.
Let them, knowing well
that they too know,
in their hearts,
they are contesting the incontestable.
Stand firm
like Qasim,
like Ali Akbar,
like Husain!
Stand tall like the Martyrs of Karbala,
staring tyrants in the eye,
unmoved by fear,
steadfast in the knowledge
of the triumph of truth;
Certain
and Enduring.
Raise the truth up for all to see,
like Husain raised Ali Asghar,
up in his arms;
his infant son;
to be seen and shot!
Be brave!
Let the armies gather!
IV. Perseverance
Hold still dear heart,
with assiduous courage.
For if the heart
is a vessel,
it must contain!
The fear of loss
can only be won
by facing loss.
Let the Daggers stab your chests,
let the Arrows pierce your hearts,
let the Spears burst through your backs!
Hold still.
Hold still like Husain,
on the night before the battle.
Gather your friends
and give them the chance to leave.
Summon your enemies
and let them know
you do not wish for blood to be shed.
But having said that,
say what you must,
and never that which you know is not the truth.
No matter what.
If battle it must be,
battle it will be.
Draw out your swords!
Paintings from the Collection, 'The ark of Salvation', Exbt. Rome, 2020
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