The mourners take turns giving their sympathies; group after group, each go forward with their hearts to offer their humble condolences. Some silently beat their chests. Some wail and lament with their hands calling out to God. Some do neither, they sit with their heads buried in their hands and cry. Our center is multicultural: we go one by one with our recitations in Arabic, Urdu, and Farsi. The mourners of Husayn (as) from all over the world have gathered in this one place united.
Parched lips, the rims of eyes overflowing, the body weak, the hands shaking. The tragedy of Hussain is recollected:
…and on his chest, sat, Shimr, sword in one hand, his other hand on the holiest of people. Tears streamed down Shimr’s face but his desires for the lowly world overtook his body’s mighty protests… Shimr’s body complains against its own soul to Allah (swt): “My owner abandoned Husayn (as) and has commanded me to kill the son of Your beloved!” Shimr, his soul dark, ignores his own body’s pleas. He turns his face away from the Imam as the tears continue to stream down his rugged face. His hands separating the body of Husayn (as) but uniting the pure soul of Husayn with his Creator… and thus, eternal damnation have favored Shimr and eternal salutations have favored Husayn! Allah (swt) says: “Oh reassured soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing to Him.”
The skies rain blood, the mountains shake with fervor, the angels lament: the son of the Prophet of Allah (swt) has been slaughtered, thirsty, on the plains of Karbala! Thousands of years later, the soil of Karbala still turns red with blood, and thousands of years later, the promised people to Sayyida Zahra (as) mourn for her son–in languages and cultures that all recall and understand the word love in another form:
حُسَين
