Salutation to the Immortal Martyrs of Karbala

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِیم

Salutation to the Immortal Martyrs of Karbala

      "O Aba Abd-Allah, your martyrdom(شهادت, the sufferings or death of a martyr) was a great calamity (فاجعه, مصیبت , (kəˈlæmɪtɪ), disaster, tragedy, mishap, catastrophe, an unfortunate accident) and the cause of great distress(زجر, suffering, sorrow, misery) for us and all followers of Islam! It was a tremendous (فوق العاده, wonderful, fabulous) calamity (catastrophe, misfortune, فاجعه) that befell (فرود آمد. happen, occur) the heavens and which affected all the denizens (den·i·zens, a habitual visitor to a place) of the heavens! May Allah’s curse (annoyance, bother, لعنت) be on those who instituted a regime of wrongdoing (خطا, bad behavior, illegal behavior, unlawful activity) and injustice against you Ahl al-Bayt! May Allah’s curse (لعنت, bother, nuisance, annoyance) be on those who sidelined (حاشیه, unimportant, withdrawn, suspended, دریغ داشتن) you from your rightful station and withheld (خودداری کردن از, suspended, out of action) from you the status that Allah had assigned you! May Allah’s curse be on those who slew (زمان گذشته ی : slay, (تعداد کثیر، مقدار زیاد, slay, kill, move backward and forward, go around ) you, and may His curse be on those who paved the way (هموار راه , to cover a surface with a flat, uniform material such as leaves or flowers) for them making it possible to wage(pay, income, دستمزد) war against you! Before God and you, I repudiate (reject, deny, not accept, رد) them, their supporters, their followers and those who befriend(برخورد, make friends with, look after) them!

     The above is the opening passage of the famous Ziyarat-e Ashura that the faithful recite (تلاوت, narrate, declaim, speak publicly) on the 10th of Muharram every year to salute(سلام, greeting, salutation ) in the proper way the Chief of Martyrs, while commemorating (بزرگداشت, celebrate, remember, memorialize, honor ) history’s most heartrending(دردناک, tear-jerking, painful, distressing) tragedy.

      Imam Husain (AS) needs no introduction (foreword, opening, preface, beginning, overture). The above passage is proof of his immaculate (معصوم, clean and tidy, perfect) pedigree (شجره نامه، نسب نامه، تبار نامه, full-blooded, family background) – exalted (متعال, high, glorious) by God Almighty and protected from the least form of uncleanness (ناپاکی , toxic waste, dirt), as ayah 33 of Surah Ahzab says:

       "We have desired to remove all uncleanness from you Ahl al-Bayt and keep you thoroughly purified(خالص, cleanse, disinfect ).”

       Yet despite his impeccable ( بی عیب, faultless, perfect) credentials(اعتبار, qualifications, certificate),he was martyred in the most cruel and brutal(وحشیانه, atrocious, cruel, evil ) manner by persons who very well knew his prime position as the pivot(محوری, revolve, turn, spin around) of Islam.

       Why? The answer is simple. Imam Husain (AS) refused to acknowledge the illegitimate (نامشروع. unlawful, illegal, illicit) rule of the impious (بی دین. sinful, immoral) and ungodly(بی دین, irreligious, irreverent, impious ) tyrant(ستمگر, dictator, oppressor), Yazid ibn Mu’awiyya, who was masquerading(secret, masked, veiled ) as caliph of Muslims, even though he openly rejected any belief in Islam.

        Then, who made him the ruler, and how come the majority of the so-called Muslims of those days yielded (عملکرد, give way, capitulate, give up ) to his Godless rule?

       Good questions indeed (به درستی که, certainly, in reality), which are relevant( ) to our own times, when persons pretending (وانمود, make believe, imagine ) to be Muslims and hailed(درود، سلام, فراخواندن، صدا زدن, call, call over) as such by the Zionist-controlled western press, are behaving in the manner of Yazid and the Omayyads by betraying(به دشمن کمک کردن، خیانت کردن , revealing, telling ) the Islamic cause, massacring (کشتار, killing, mass murder, slaughter, butchery) Muslims, destroying the lands of the believers, and desecrating (damage, vandalize, violate, بی‌حرمتی کردن به) the holy shrines.

       Of course, there is the Avenger for the sacred (holy, blessed, revered, مقدس) blood of Imam Husain (AS). And He is God Almighty as we read in the Ziyarat-e Ashura. His instrument of bringing to justice the killers of the Prophet’s grandson and those who endorsed (authorized, certified, allowed), and still continue to endorse his killing, is the Awaited Saviour(نجات دهنده، ناجی، منجی, rescuer, redeemer, deliverer, defender, guardian, protector, liberator) of mankind.

       When Imam Mahdi (AS) appears, along with Prophet Jesus (AS) to establish the global government of peace, prosperity (شکوفائى، رونق, wealth, success ) and justice, all traces (راه برگزیده شده، مسیر, sketch, draw, outline) of corruption(فساد، تباهی, dishonesty, sleaze) and oppression(ستم, domination, cruelty ) will vanish(ناپدید, disappear, evaporate ) from Planet Earth.

         In the meantime, we continue to commemorate (خاطره‌ی کسی را گرامی داشتن, honor, memorialize) the martyrdom of the Chief of Martyrs and salute him with a worthy salutation(greeting, welcome, سلام و درود) on the Day of Ashura, as was taught to us by his grandson, Imam Muhammad al-Baqer (AS), who was present in Karbala as a 4-year old boy.

        Here is a thought-provoking (تحریک, خشم انگیز، ناراحت کننده، آزار دهنده , infuriating, aggravating) passage:

         "O Aba Abd-Allah! I make peace with those who are at peace with you and will make war against those who are at war with you, till the Day of Resurrection(رستاخیز, renaissance, rebirth, revivification ). May Allah’s curse be on the clan (قبیله, tribe, relations, people) of Ziyad and the clan of Marwan! May Allah’s curse be on the generality (کلیت, generalization, simplification) of the Umayyads! May Allah’s curse be on the son of Marjanah! May Allah’s curse be on Umar ibn Sa'd! May Allah’s curse be on Shimr! May Allah’s curse be on the lot who saddled and harnessed their mounts and patrolled the land for the battle against you! Dearer than my father and mother, your martyrdom has caused me great sorrow! I beseech (التماس, beg, demand, request, implore ) Allah, who has honoured you with your station and honoured me through you, to enable me to avenge(انتقام, punish, even the score, get you back ) your blood with the God-aided Imam from the Family of Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his Family! O Allah, make me eminent (برجسته, well-known, important) with You in the world and the Hereafter (آخرت, after this, henceforward, in future) through Husain, peace on him.”