 خاوض بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم وبهين استين والصلاة والسلام على خير الخلقك وخاتم الأنبياء والمرسلين سيدنا الأولين والآخرين شفي المدنبين رحمة للعالمين وحبيبة الله العالمين وصلى الله عليك يا سيدي يا مولاية يا رسول الله وعلى حلبيتك المذلومين صلى الله عليك يا سيدي يا مولاية مولاية وابنى مولاية يا أبا عبدالله يا رحمة الله الواصع ويا باب نجاة الأمها يا غريب يا مذلوم يا أتشعان كربلها ما خاب من تمسك بكم ولأمنا من لجاء إليكم سادتي يا ليتنا يا ليتنا كناماكم فنفوزا والله فوزا أبيما قال الله العديم في محكم كتابه الكريم والقولك الحق والأستقل قائلين أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرهيم والشؤراء يتبئهم الغاوون عمنا بالله صدق الله العلي العديم صلى الله عليه وسلم سنوات كما جميعنا نعلم is the night of the first of the month of Muharram amongst the four sacred months with an Islamic tradition which even in the pre-Islamic period was designated as a month of sanctity whereby bloodshed was forbidden to be shed yet if we fast forward only 50 years after the passing of the greatest of God's creation the messenger of God محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم see his grandson was left alone on a barren desert around 30,000 horsemen ready to shed his blood what went wrong? what transpired? and why is it that every single year we come toward a gathering like this one to recollect that tragedy which is a tragedy like none other someone says how can it be a tragedy like none other like I stated before we're talking 50 years after the passing of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and he lived with that grandson of his and he placed him on his back and on his shoulders and he would call out سيدة شبابة عحن الجنة that Hassan and Hussein are the leaders of the youth of paradise and would call out وانم and Hassan that Hussein is for me and I am for Hussein and he would call out and he would say أحمد الله من أحمد حسينة that Allah loves the one who loves Hussein أن الله يحب الجميع الذي يحب حسين. تكلمات بعد تكلمات وقت تكلمات يتكلمات قدرية المسجد من الله من سيد الشحداء الحسيد ثرام الله علي. وفهم من المكلمات بعد المكلمات يتكلمات أنه كان المسجد من الله سلوه عليه وعليه وسلم الذي يتكلمات على مجموعة حسين يتكلمات قدرية المسجد من الله ومجموعة حسين. يتكلمات قدرية المسجد من الله المسجد من الله سلوه عليه وعليه وعليه يتكلمات بأن الله يحب الجميع الذي يحب حسين. لا I don't have a lot of good deeds لا I don't have a lot of things to demonstrate in front of my creator that this is what should permit me to enter into paradise. but one thing that I do have is that I love Hussain. and I will utilize the words of the prophet of God in front of God and I will say your messenger said that you love the one who loves Hussain so bear witness that I love Hussain. and we come toward these gatherings over the last 400-1400 years to recollect a tragedy in a way that's been done in a way that's been done with so many unique rituals in order to enliven the story and the merit that we gain and the value that we earn from being in the proximity to the gathering that recollects the tragedy of Hussain last year on the first night of the month of Muharram I spoke to the importance of symbolism and ritual within Islamic tradition and I don't want to speak toward that tonight because it's something that we've conversed about in the past and it's available as well online and other platforms and so on and so forth but tonight I want to dedicate my conversation toward speaking to the importance of the poetry that we recite in honor of Sayyid al-Shahadah and Hussain if you go all across the world tonight is the first night of the month of Muharram there are more than 300 million people in this universe who are gathering and they are weeping and grieving and lamenting over the tragedy of the grandson of the messenger of God and the most Sayyid's feature of these mourning and lamenting ceremonies is the poetry that we recite that begins us and to entering into the Mejlis the recitation, the hook by the sermon itself and it's that same poetry all across the world you'll find culturally in different parts of the world in different communities that recitation in the way of Hussain in order to invoke emotion from the audience is a staple of Islamic tradition and when we go ahead and take a look at the uniqueness of lamenting for Imam al-Hussain we see that its historical roots are founded far before and that which transpired on the day of Ashura rather poetry within Islamic history and really pre-Islamic history as well has been something that is so foundational and so fundamental for those of you who have an understanding of the whole of Quran you know that the whole of Quran is virtually poetry from beginning to end and what makes it so unique for the early Arabs during that day was actually a profit towards community in Mecca was the beauty of the words of the Quran if you study pre-Islamic Arabia western scholars and orientalists they will write the same they will say that there are no people who are as eloquent as the Arabs of that day they would converse and they would speak in poetry and they would actually sit down with one another and they would try to out poet the other person who is sitting in front of them they would have poetry battles in other words and actually you find that historians they state that if someone insulted the person that they were trying to out poet they would get their wealth they would get their property sometimes they would even get their spouses this you see that poetry was such a fundamental sort of core of that environment in the pre-Islamic period unless when Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم he brings forth his message and that is the Holy Quran we see the beauty of the words of the Holy Quran as a mechanism to influence the hearts of the cream of the crop when it comes toward the poets in the land of Hijaz and Allah سبحانه وتعالى when you read the Holy Quran you'll see how the words are so unique and so indelicate and how many of the verses of the Holy Quran they are rhyming and prose and so on and so forth and they saw that that was the greatest evidence used by his messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم so for the sake of our discussion and our conversation for tonight I want to speak toward the importance of lamentation poetry within Islamic history and I want to explain this particular concept in three different dimensions the first dimension is in terms of understanding the history of poetry within Islam secondly in regards toward the history of poetry in honor of the prophet and his family and thirdly the uniqueness of lamentation poetry in honor of صلى الله عليه وسلم so as for the first dimension of our discussion in terms of understanding the history of poetry within Islamic tradition again as I mentioned poetry is that which is founded within the Holy Quran and that which is really evident in the pre-Islamic period as well but when you go ahead and take a look at the life of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم we don't have any necessary evidence to suggest that he himself was a poet or he himself recited poetry because at the end of the day the only thing that he recited was the verses of the Holy Quran and that which Allah سبحانه وتعالى inspired for him to state and many scholars of Islamic theology they would state that the reason why the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would not speak his own poetry is because people in the community would mistake it for the Holy Quran because again his word is similar to the word of Allah سبحانه وتعالى وما ينته عن الهواء that Allah سبحانه وتعالى states within the Holy Quran that the prophet does not speak anything except for revelation when you go ahead and take a look at those who are closest around the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم we see individuals like Abu Talib the uncle of the messenger of God the father of Ali Ibn Abu Talib one of the evidences that we use to suggest that he was a man of faith and a man of Iman was his prose and his poetry in honor of the messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم if you go to classic Arabic bookstores and libraries in the Middle East today go and find books that are entitled ديوان أبوطارب the prose of Abu Talib the uncle of the prophet صلى الله عليه وعالى and you go ahead and read these lines and the way that he praises the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم and the way that he speaks of his love and his affection and his attachment toward the prophet عليه سلام we see that these lines of poetry number one are so beautiful but number two they also demonstrate أبوطارب and that really gets us to understand again the meaning of poetry in and of itself poetry is a way that one expresses that which is within their innermost feelings we have a very difficult time talking about things in general especially in this part of the world it gets very uncomfortable to say things like I love you I care about you how are you doing but not how are you doing in a way that we're just being polite about how the other person is doing for whatever reason we come and we see that an avenue in order to express those innermost intimate feelings that we have and really across different cultures and different world traditions in general is poetry you go ahead for instance to any like bookstore are they even bookstores around anymore is there bars and nobles anymore everybody buys things on Amazon back in the day we would go to a bookstore or an Islam or maybe I was the only one hanging out in those areas you go to the section on Islam and every single poem or the majority of books in the Islamic section is poetry of really for instance or poetry of this guy or poetry of that guy and most of it that thing to do with God it had to do with love it had to do with intimacy it had to do with affection and so on and so forth poetry is something that just people like in general because there are cultures with their emails and all these other strange things because they're afraid to just say the things that they want to say very directly to another person but also what it does again is show the uniqueness of certain individuals and sort of again the depth of that which they desire to speak the depth of their emotion so you find the example of Abu Qalib on sort of one lens and you find other poets a man by the name of Hassan Ibn Thabit who is a man who is known to be amongst the greatest of poets during the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and on the day of Ghadir in which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he appoints Imam Ali as a successor and as the Imam after him when he states فهذا عليя المورا اللهم ولمن والا ولأذمن اذا وانصر من نسرا واخدل من خدلا the Prophet عليه وسلم he calls this man Hassan Ibn Thabit this poet and he says oh Hassan you are a man with great eloquence stand in front of everyone and recite your lines and he recites these beautiful lines and praise of Ali Ibn Abi Qalib مولا means إمام and the word مولا means حالب again we utilize and it's an evidence and discussions and so on and so forth to speak about the superiority of علي علي سلام to all of the other companions of the Prophet of God and the Prophet علي سلام he goes toward حسانة بالطابط and he says oh my dear friend utilize this poetry and utilize this tongue of yours in our service and we have evidence that later on within history حسانة بالطابط no longer did that لذلك الشيخ العليسلام كان يساعده عن ما يجب أن يفعله يعني أنه لم يرسل للمساعدة للمساعدة وعليه صلى الله عليه وسلم ولكن as we go ahead we see that the first time that we find a remnants of a lamentation poetry in other words poetry that sort of invoked emotion or invoked emotion of the audience was after the Prophet العليسلام lost his uncle Hamza Ibn Abdel Mu'tahab when you go ahead and study early Islamic history the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم there was not one moment that was as tragic to the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم as when he lost his uncle Hamza in the battle of the heart he would grieve day and night and it struck his heart so deeply that even when his killer Wahshi came toward the Prophet عليسلام to convert to the religion of Islam as he did many years later the Prophet عليسلام had a difficult time to even look at Wahshi he took his Shahada and he accepted him into the religion of Islam but the Prophet عليسلام still had that deep grief that ran through his heart even years later so when someone says why did he grieve over something that happened a long time ago the Prophet عليسلام also grieved for many years after the passing of Hamza Ibn Abdel Mu'tahab anyhow we come and we see that after the passing of Hamza the Prophet عليسلام he would go towards some poets within the community and he would ask them to recite lines of poetry that spoke toward the merits of Hamza meaning again that he would ask poets to speak about the uniqueness of Hamza in order that everyone within the community misses him in a way that it would invoke tears from the audience and according to one tradition it is stated that the Prophet عليسلام he gathers together women and he gathers together men and he separates them on two sides he asks one women poet to stand in front of the women and recite poetry in honor of Hamza in order for the women to grieve and then he asks one man to recite poetry in honor of Hamza in order for the men to grieve and community they wept and they grieved over the loss of someone who was so significant but again he wasn't only grieving over the individual who was a man who was the uncle of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم but Hamza عليسلام was far greater than that not only is he the uncle of the Prophet but he's a confidant of the Prophet and he's a man who stands in representation in supporting the mission of God so we don't weep for our grandfathers our great grandparents our ancestors in the way that we weep for Hussein or the way that we weep for the family of the Prophet عليسلام because they have a uniqueness in terms of their relationship with الله سبحانه وتعالى and in order for us to demonstrate our love for Hussein in the same way that God states صحب الله من حب حسينة we grieve in this way in order to bring forth an evidence to suggest why it is that I love Hussein عليسلام in front of our Creator we can say how many tears that I shed and how many gatherings that I enter into and how many times that I wear dark colored clothing in order to demonstrate my love and my affection toward the grandson of the messenger of God and this brings me toward the second phase of my discussion which is the second dimension in which I want to speak a little bit toward the history of poetry in honor of the Prophet and his family عليسلام because someone says okay let's suggest that the Prophet عليسلام did accept grieving over حمزة أبن أمد المطرب but that was the direct commandment of the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم why is it that you grieve over other personalities other than حمزة and how come we don't grieve over حمزة necessarily only because when we see that poetry in itself has something that also has been deeply entrenched in the post prophetic period if you go toward and you go and you visit the messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم may Allah سبحانه و تعالى I grant us all that most beautiful opportunity many of us in this room you just came back from Hajj there's nothing like being in the proximity toward the Prophet of God صلى الله عليه وسلم you go and you walk around the mosque of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and you'll find lines of poetry in honor of the messenger of God عليه الصلاة و الصلاة then even in that community and in that socio-political lens if you understand what I'm saying that even they permit the recitation of poetry in honor of the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم and I just want to read a couple of those most well-known lines in honor of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم for instance and one famous poem that many of us may have taken to memory the poem it goes جميع و خساله that this famous poem was written by a scholar who was trying to do something in dedication toward the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم so he states that he reaches the peak of perfection with his etiquette تشثل دجاء بجماله and by his beauty he removed all darkness فسلت جميع و خساله and he had the entirety of all good character and when he went to sleep that night and for those of you who understand Arabic language it rhymes and it sounds a lot better than it does in English he went to sleep that night and he saw the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم come to him in his dream and he said so he said فسلت جميع و خساله and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says finish it so he says I don't have the words he says then let me finish it for you سللو عليه و عليه and praise Muhammad and his family another sort of really beautiful poem that we have within our tradition in honor of the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم is by Imam Shafi one of the four imams of the Sunni Mubahab the Shafi school one of the famous poem states he states he states oh family of the messenger of God love has been made an obligation to you within the whole of Quran and it is sufficient for your position in your stance that if someone does not recite Sarahwa upon you and your family their prayers are not acceptance صلى الله عليه وسلم and so this is Imam Shafi Imam Shafi in another poem he states you know one of the ways that many people they sort of actually they call this because of a difference in opinion in regards to succession to the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم they call this the rejecters because we reject the authority of the first caliph and we believe that authority should be given to Ali al-Isa so a demeaning way to speak toward followers of Ahl al-Bayt toward the Shia is you call them a Rathadi and in this line Imam Shafi again who is not he states you find numerous examples about praising not only the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم but also this family صلى الله عليه وسلم and it's really important to understand that when we come here in these gatherings when we're praising Imam al-Hussain and the poetry and the way that we do again it's nothing except for out of our love of the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم we come here and we grieve because it was the prophet who grieved we come here and we dress in this way in our garment of grief because God has told us by the word and by the tongue of the messenger of God that he loves the one who loves al-Hussain and so again you find all of these unique examples and all of this poetry that has been dedicated and honor of the prophet and his family صلى الله عليه وسلم to demonstrate that there is no one in terms of merit, in terms of beauty in terms of compassion in terms of generosity, in terms of patience, in terms of love in terms of any sublime metaphysical virtue in terms of comparison with not only Muhammad but also صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم just why there was this man his name was Ibn Sakit Ibn Sakit was a companion of the 10th Imam Ali Al-Hadi عليه السلام and he lived during the time of متوكل العباسي who was one of the Abbasid خلافا and متوكل العباسي was also responsible for poisoning our 9th Imam but then the last متوكل after poisoning Imam Al-Jawad he went toward Ibn Sakit again who was a companion of the 10th Imam and was a man who was super eloquent he was a scholar of the Arabic language he was a poet in his own right and so he goes to him and he says that oh Ibn Sakit I want you to teach my two sons I want you to teach my two sons Quran and I want you to teach them the Arabic language imagine Ibn Sakit Ibn Sakit is the greatest Arabic scholar of the time and he is being asked to teach two children who are 4 and 5 years old he wants to say no we are also being told by the leader of the Muslim world who is a tyrant and an oppressor in his own right you can't really say no to somebody like that because it's going to be detrimental perhaps to your own life naturally Ibn Sakit says look I don't think that I'm the best guy to do it so he says like look you're going to teach my two sons so he says so every single day for several months he would go and he would teach the two sons of Mutawakkal al-Abbasi Arabic and Quranic language and one day Mutawakkal al-Abbasi he goes toward him he goes toward Ibn Sakit and Mutawakkal had really strong animosity toward أهر البيت عليم سلام really strong animosity he's the killer of Muhammad Jawad he did his very best toward killing and slaughtering the Shi'a all across the world he is one of those who try to demolish the shrine of Imam al-Hussain many many years ago he goes toward Ibn Sakit and he says oh Ibn Sakit tell me who is better in Quran and in Arabic my two sons or Hasan al-Hussain Ibn Sakit for himself he was willing to take it he was willing to allow for himself to be forced to be in that position where he has to teach the two sons of this despicable tyrant the minute that this man tries to compare anyone to Hasan al-Hussain Ibn Sakit couldn't keep quiet anymore interestingly enough Ibn Sakit needs the son of the one who is quiet if you understand the uniqueness so he states to Mutawakkal al-Abbasi he says he stays he stays he stays he stays he stays have you gone crazy you're comparing your two sons to Hasan al-Hussain the slave of Ali the slave of Hasan al-Hussain is better than your two sons at that moment he ties them to a pillar and he cuts off his tongue and he lets them bleed to death this is the way that the rulers of the Muslim world treated individuals who had animosity or who had love who had this sort of intense love toward the Prophet and his family in other instances you find that Ahrabayt and the power tree that was recited for them was something that was very much embedded in very normal even during the time of the Khulafa from Balu Umayyah you find individuals like Farazda Farazda was known to be the power of Hisham bin Abdel Malik bin Marwan who was again one of the Umayyid Khulafa and who was responsible for really isolating and marginalizing Imam Ali ibn Hussain after Karbala and it is said that Farazda he was paid he was employed by the Umayyid government to stand next to the Caliph and just speak about his praises and really really beautiful words and people this is the way they used to be entertained sometimes we turn on like Fox News for 30 seconds just so we can laugh a little bit back then they used to go and watch a poet praise the Caliph and then we used to clap and stand up and do all of these silly things so they would actually have someone who is the voice of the government who is employed by the government and Farazda was that man for Hisham bin Abdel Malik was one of the Umayyid Khulafa he is standing to the side and he is trying to go and perform Dawaf around the Kaaba if you go for Hajj in really the peak days you can't just stand on the side if you want to do Dawaf you got to get in it takes a little bit of time you got to navigate through people you got to get comfortable and then you got to make sure that your left shoulder is facing the Kaaba and performing all the rituals in the way that we perform the rituals is easy Hisham bin Abdel Malik has been in Marwan he is looking at all of his ministers and he is like I am Hisham bin Abdel Malik I am the leader of the Muslim world no one is letting me enter during Hajj no one cares who you are they are just trying to fulfill the responsibility to your God so he is trying to get in and he is trying to get into Dawaf and no one really cares who he is all of a sudden a couple of moments later there is a man who comes and he is wearing this really long garment and he has a scarf that is covering his head and he is walking really slowly and he is calling out in Subhan Allah and he is making really really small steps and when he enters into that gathering within Masjid al Haram everyone looks and they see the beauty of his face and he takes steps and everyone parts and they allow for him to enter into the middle and before he performs Dawaf he goes and he puts his hand on and no one touches him and he puts his face and he kisses and then he takes one step back and he begins to recite and he begins to recite and a really beautiful voice and he begins to recite when he says they say he calls out and everyone after him they call out Subhan Allah and everyone within Masjid al Haram they say Subhan Allah one of his guards one of his bodyguards they look and they say who is that and he says we don't know who he is and at this moment who is the poet he says what are you talking about you don't know who he is هو الذي يعرف هو الذي يعرف الحل و الحر هو الذي Excuse me هو الذي تعرف البتحائي و التائر هو ابن فاتمة إن كنت قل جاهلة that if you do not know who this man is this is the man who this is the man who this is the man who he is the son of Fatima if you did not know by him and by his grandfather all of the prophets were in completion he is the son of Ali and he is the son of Fatima and he is the son of Hussein how do you not know who he is and at that moment as he was reciting these lines of poetry the guards of Banu Omeya they took him and they put him in the present and because this man he had absolutely nothing he was in position in the government of Banu Omeya Imam Zayn al-Abideen he sent him 10,000 dirhams which was a whole lot of money to which he responds in a letter toward Imam Zayn al-Abideen he says oh son of the messenger of God I didn't do this because I wanted any wealth from you he said I did it out of my love for you and out of my love for your creator to which Imam Zayn al-Abideen he writes back to Farazza while he was in prison he tells him oh Farazda you take this 10,000 dirham and Allah سبحانه وتعالى won't decrease your reward so we come and we see that the history of poetry and honor of Ahl al-Baik was something that was present during their lifetime and this allows for me to transition toward the third dimension of my discussion and then specifically in regards toward lamentation poetry in honor of Imam Al-Hussain and we find that lamentation of lamentation poetry in honor of Imam Al-Hussain can really be understood in sort of two subtopics the first subtopic is that Imams of Ahl al-Baik bay themselves would encourage the recitation of lamentation poetry in honor of Imam Al-Hussain and the second sort of subtopic is that bay themselves would recite poetry in honor of Imam Al-Hussain themselves so let's try to understand both of these two points really really briefly and then I'll conclude firstly in regards toward the encouragement of Ahl al-Baik in regards toward reciting lamentation poetry in honor of Imam Al-Hussain we have an abundance of Ahadith and an abundance of traditions for instance one tradition that states that the one who recites one prose who recites one line of poetry in honor of Ahl al-Baik Allah سبحانه وتعالى will grant him house and paradise another tradition for instance states that the one who recites one line of poetry and allows for 50 people to grieve in that audience for 50 people to shed a tear in that audience in honor of us meaning in honor Allah سبحانه وتعالى will grant him paradise and then at that moment the companion he goes toward Imam Al-Hussain and he says 50 people that's it all I have to do is make 50 people cry so he says no 40 people if you recite one line of poetry and 40 people cry Allah will grant you paradise he says 40 people that's it he says no if you recite one line of poetry and you make 30 people cry Allah will grant you paradise he says 30 people and he continues 20 he says 10 people just for one line of poetry that makes people grieve in honor of Ahl al-Baik and Imam Al-Sadab says no he says if you recite one line of poetry and one person cries Allah سبحانه وتعالى will grant you paradise and this man he began to cry Imam Al-Sadab says oh my dear friend no he says if you recite one line of poetry in honor of my grandfather and one person in the audience tries to cry Allah سبحانه وتعالى will grant everyone with him that gathering paradise another tradition states oh my dear friend oh my dear friend that the one who cries in honor of us or the one who makes others cry in honor of us or the one who tries to cry in honor of us all of them have paradise again in a way to encourage people to recite poetry in honor of Ahl al-Baik one line that house in paradise you recite lines of poetry we're just giving out paradise like Oprah gives out cars here just paradise for everybody but it starts with the fundamental principle and that starts with this idea and this notion that it has to come with the sincerity of our love for Ahl al-Baik and it said that one day Imam Al-Baq Al-Alaysraam went for Hajj and he was accompanied by this companion a man whose name is this man is a legend my friends he made them and said that if you like poetry for Imam Al-Alaysraam you have to know this guy's name he made them and said that he gave everything in the way of Ahl al-Baik to the extent that both Ben Umeya and later Ben Abbas they tried to target his life numerous times he was on their hit list for the only reason that he would read poetry for Ahl al-Baik specifically in honor of Imam Al-Alaysraam and Hussain it is said that they were standing in front of the Ka'ba and it is said that Imam Al-Baq Al-Alaysraam he looks toward and he says I want to remember my grandfather Hussain we will just stop here for just one moment they are in front of the Ka'ba they are in front of the house of Allah which is the best act to be performed when we are in the mosque the love prayers or on dua munajat atkar Imam Al-Baqar the great grandson of the messenger of God what does he state I want to remember my grandfather Hussain he comes from the lineage of infallibility and purity and in front of the house of Allah he wants to remember Imam Al-Alaysraam he says recite me some lines so that I may grieve over the tragedy of my grandfather Hussain to recite to that moment he recites a couple of lines and Imam Al-Alaysraam he begins to cry then Imam Al-Baqar he stands up and he raises his hands and he says Allah Allah I ask you by the blessing of your Ka'ba to forgive the sins of Khomaite those sins which he has committed and those sins which he has not yet committed in another occasion it is said that Khomaite had been said that he was captured he was taken into prison by the callous of the time and Khomaite I asked him he gave it a ransom on some exorbitant amount of money Imam Al-Baqar Al-Alaysraam he went to his family members and he said Khomaite he is our poet he has dedicated so much to us he has dedicated his life to us to the extent that now he is in prison they all gathered wealth in order to pay for the ransom of Khomaite so that he is bailed out of prison and Khomaite he says oh messenger of God on another occasion he says oh messenger of God all of this wealth that you keep on showering me with I don't need it I don't need anything to which the Imam Al-Alaysraam says but I want to give it to you because I love when you read for us I love when you recite for us Khomaite he responds toward Imam Al-Baqar Al-Alaysraam he says يبنو سيد الله oh grandson of the messenger of God none of this matters to me just give me one of your shirts give me one of your cloaks which he has inherited from the messenger of God so I can be buried in that so it can intercede for me on a day of judgment again if you take a look at the sincerity of the poet too and the love that he has to the Prophet and his family peace and blessings be upon him on another occasion it is said that Imam Zayn al-Abideen Al-Alaysraam the fourth Imam he is in Mina the days of Hajj again since we sort of just left those days and it's on a lot of our minds the days of Hajj they consist of a lot of ritual from the moment that you get into Mecca you perform Umrah at Tometo you perform Sa'ee you perform Prayers you perform other Tawaf and then the day of Arafa happens and on the night of the 10th you go to Muzdalifah and you have to perform certain rituals in Mina on the day of Eid al-Abha and on the 11th and the 12th you have to go and stone the Jamarad but when you're in Mina other than stoning the Jamarad which takes 15 minutes max you don't have anything to do people don't really ask what should we do should we recite this Da'a should we make that prayer what should we do most people just sit and they just sleep as much as they can because of how exhausted they are during the course of those days and they stand on lines for these really really disgusting bathrooms for the majority of the days when they're in Mina they said that Imam Zayn al-Abideen he's in Hajj with many of his companions and they're sitting down and they're talking and they're conversing and they're talking about nothing which is very common he's in Mina to which Imam Zayn al-Abideen says which one of you is a poet one of those companions he says oh messenger of God I am I can read a little bit he says then recite poetry in honor of my grandfather in honor of my father Hussein and he said that he would recite poetry for Imam Hussein he would meet and then Imam Zayn al-Abideen would ask everyone who was in Mina he said whatever you can gift to this man gift it to him because he has reminded us of my father Hussein عليك سلام on another occasion it is said again just sort of to elaborate the emphasis on poetry in honor of Ahran Bayt it is specifically in honor of lamenting for Hussein in this mode of poetry it is said that Imam al-Qadim he was brought by Haroun al-Abassi the Abbasid Caliph toward city of Baghdad where eventually he was marked and the Abbasid Caliphate they were really really prone on doing one thing and that was to always demonstrate how much they loved Ahran Bayt we love the family of the Prophet we are related to the family of the Prophet because they are Abbasids they come from the lineage of Abbasid and Abdul-Multarib but many of that which they did was very antagonistic toward the family of the Prophet they use it as their rallying cry in order to take power but once they had power they oppressed the family of the Prophet more than anyone else so in order to allow for this public image to take place and to transpire they bring forth Imam Musa Al-Qadim and he sits down on the throne next to Haroun al-Abassi and he invites all of the ministers and all of the people who work in the court to gift whatever it is that they want to gift to Imam Al-Qadim عليه السلام that they can take like their photo op and all that kind of thing so everyone comes and they give some fruits and they give some gold and they give some unique things because when the man something everyone just has to obey and he says I command you to give all of this to Imam Musa Al-Qadim Imam Musa Al-Jafir doesn't care about any of these things but he's in a position where he has to accept them so he sits and he's accepting and he's accepting and he's accepting there was one servant within that court who didn't have anything to offer so he comes and he looks at Haroun al-Abassi his boss and he says oh Haroun I have nothing to give to Imam Musa Al-Qadim so he says you have to give something to Imam Musa Al-Qadim and he says oh grandson of the messenger of God I love you and I love your family he says I don't have anything physical to offer to you I'm really poor man I clean up after the shoes and I clean up I clean up next to the shoes of this hall for instance to which the Imam says don't worry about it he says but I do have one thing for you he says and what's that in honor of your grandfather Hussain so he recites these lines of poetry in honor of Imam Hussain and Imam Al-Qadim that begins to read and he takes all of those gifts that he has been receiving from all of these ministers and he says this is all for you I don't need anything of it so on one side we see that poetry was that which was encouraged by Imam but the Imam of Haroun by needs of their tradition by needs of their words by needs of their custom they had hadiths that spoke to the narrative reciting poetry and they actually honored those who recited on their behalf and on the other side we see that they would read poetry on their own in honor of Hussain and in honor of their and in honor of their immaculate lineage and we find numerous examples of that as well we find that for instance that ran the family of the prophet of God they were turning back toward Medina after the tragedy of we find that for instance she begins to recite lines of poetry in which she says oh city of Medina do not accept us because when we left your blessed city we had all of our men and we had all of our family but today we come with none of them we have other instances for instance when lady when other some lines of prose in order to allow for herself to grieve and for others to grieve during those most challenging days after the day of Ashura we find instances for instance when the imams of Ahrebaid they themselves would encourage others other poets to recite poetry like that of of which he would recite the of of and when he would stop would continue the lines of poetry in order to get people to grieve that this idea of lamenting and lamentation poetry something that is of the utmost importance my master's dissertation speaks to the importance and I really believe that lamentation poetry is the reason why that the story of Karabata still remain in fact I have a really long title for my master's dissertation which states which is titled the role of lamentation poetry in safeguarding the Karabata narrative during the imami period fancy academic title and that if it were not for lamenting for Imam Hussain by means of the poems and the poetry that we had from the times of Ahrebaid until this very day we see just how challenging it would have been for us to really receive the message in the way that we've received it you go ahead and take a look at the history of this institution my friends do you have any idea how much of a blessing it is that we can have a measureless for Imam Hussain A.S. in the middle of downtown Manhattan in public no one's gonna say anything to us we can perform the rituals the way that we want some people they might ask questions they might observe they might not understand what we're doing and that's okay we can explain those things but we don't fear for our lives you were the other parts of the world to enter into a measure of Imam Hussain they're gonna patch you down they're gonna open up your bags and how many people and how many acts of violence are going to transpire honestly in the next 10 days as much as I hope that it's not going to happen I'm gonna open up my phone just tomorrow morning and I'm gonna see what happened in Afghanistan and I'm gonna see what happened in Iraq and I'm gonna see what happened in Pakistan and the measureless of Hussain had not eaten in Afghanistan for what? because people wanna sit down and they wanna grieve for the grandson and the messenger of God let people do what it is but it was poetry that was recited often times and even code words during the time of the Omeya's during the time of the Abbasids they would not even say the name of Hussain openly but they would utilize other words and there was even revolutions that were formed and that were created and uprisings in small pockets during the time of the Omeya's during the time of the Abbasids the way that they were able to create those revolutions was by words of poetry in which they were state we're not making a political statement we're just grieving over Hussain on other instances if you go ahead and you take a look at the richness of this treasure that we have in honor of say this Shahada and Hussain who really begin to appreciate what it is that we have and I'll just elaborate with this last point and then I'll make my conclusions and that is that we're not sure that we're cultivating an environment whereby we're creating poetry in the English language as well that's as just as impactful that's just as emotional that's just as powerful that's just as salient to the feature of our imagine this in this part of the world today so it's really important that if you have skills and even if you don't have skills all you have to do is recite one line and you get want to share it you want to recite in front of everyone then you post it online you're doing a service toward the profit and towards family peace and blessings be upon them and eventually we're going to have to transition from our classical languages and really being able to portray the message of Imam and Hussain in a language that we all understand so let's start with who recited just right now and we're going to be reciting over the next 10 nights and give them words of encouragement and tell them that it was amazing and even if it wasn't amazing tell them it was amazing I'm kidding it was amazing now I was talking about my daughter for instance who was going to come here spit some lines for you all she was too shy tomorrow Insha'Allah we need to encourage it and we need to cultivate it and we need to create it and we need to and know that it's not going to end any time soon man how many time they tried to kill us how many time they tried to blow us up how many times they come to our mosques and shoot us an all honestly not to be sarcastic to be إحيو أمرنا رهيم الله من نحيا أمرنا as the hadith states from numerous of the imams of afflavadage and liven our affairs, tell people our stories may Allah have mercy upon the one who enlivens our affairs a man is approached by mama sadaqa alaih salam or mama sadaqa approaches one of his companions a man with the name of fudail and he states oh fudail ya fudail أتجنسون واتتحدثون oh fudail do you sit down with one another do you gather with other followers about it in bait remember I had to do it in secret back then so we couldn't even say do you sit down with other shia do you sit down with my other followers you would say do you guys sit do you guys talk you can sit and talk about anything but he says oh fudail do you guys sit and do you talk he says يبنى رسول الله I get it and we do to which he says may Allah سبحانه وتعالى I have mercy upon those gatherings what was he talking about sitting what was he talking about gathering he was talking about sitting and talking about that in bait do you sit and do you gather and recollect the tragedy of our master Hussein and he says yes to which he says رحم الله رحم الله may Allah have mercy upon your gatherings may Allah have mercy upon you all may Allah have mercy upon those tears which come down from your cheeks may Allah have mercy upon that pain that you feel in your heart in love for us إرحم تلك السرخة التي كانت لنا have mercy upon the scream that is made in compassion for us the scream the cry the pain the tears the grief and they prayed for us when we make those sighs when we hear the tragedy of our day and tonight was the first night in which we built the first night in which we begin the journey to the temple of Haram I don't know about you all but the whole entire day until the sun sat the heart was feeling really sad because I know what tonight represents tonight is the night of the first of Muharram a night when Imam Al-Rouda عليه السلام he would be seen grieving and he would be seen weeping a night for instance when Imam Al-Kabim عليه السلام he would recommend his companions the next night that they should fast in order that their heart becomes soft from sin so they are able to grieve over the tragedy of Sayyid Al-Shahada and Hussein عليه السلام this particular night أهر البيت عليه السلام their wounds would change and they would make sure that their followers would also be fixated in understanding the significance of this particular night this particular night perhaps because on the second of Muharram was when the caravan of Imam Al-Hussein عليه السلام it arrives in the holy city of Karmara and we'll talk about that more tomorrow night but tonight is the last night that Hussein and his caravan is not in Karmara so there's still a little bit of hope and every single night during these 10 nights of Muharram we have a little bit of hope but every single night one horseman falls and one flag falls and a little bit of that water is lost and every night we begin this journey thinking at the 10th of Muharram what would really happen again but we recollect that tragedy unlike no other and it is stated that upon one occasion that the Prophet عليه السلام becomes home from the Masjid and he enters into the house of Ali Al-Fatima and Hussein and Hussein they were 3 and 2 years old or 4 and 3 or 5 and 4 or maybe even younger he enters and he goes into the room and he begins to say his prayers and then he exits from the room and his beard is soaked with his own tears and he calls you know Hussein oh my 2 sons come to me Imam Hassan and Hussein they sit on the lap of their grandfather the messenger of God and it is said that Imam Al-Hassan عليه السلام he is seated on the right lap of the Prophet of God and he embraces Imam Al-Hassan and he calls out حال حسنة والحسين ريانة هاي that these 2 sons they are my flowers they are the things that are most valuable to me الحسنة والحسين سيدة شبابة أحل الجنة that these are the youths of paradise that I love the ones who love these 2 children and remember Imam Hassan is maybe 4 years old maybe 3 years old 4 years at max and he goes and he begins to kiss him on the mouth and he begins to kiss him on the cheek and he begins to embrace him and then he looks to Imam Al-Hassan عليه السلام and he kisses him on the forehead and then he begins to kiss him on the neck and Imam Al-Hassan عليه السلام he looks at the messenger of God and he gets down from his lap and he runs toward Fatima Al-Zahra he runs toward his mother and he says oh my mother smell my mouth to which Fatima Al-Zahra she kneels down on the ground and she kisses Imam Al-Hassan on the mouth and she says that your fragrance fragrance from your mouth is so beautiful and she says that oh my mother how come that my grandfather kissed the mouth of my brother Hassan but did not do it for me so at this moment Fatima Al-Zahra says I don't know so it is said that she exits from that space and she goes toward the prophet and she says oh my father you hurt my son Hussein he is subset that you embrace Hassan in a different way than you embrace Hussein why did you do that he says oh my daughter Fatima I was sitting in the room and I was praying and after I completed my prayer Jigra'ir came to me with revelation and he says oh messenger of God do you love your family he says I love my family he says do you love Hassan and Hussein he said I love Hassan and Hussein he says I want to tell you it is going to transpire toward your two children Hassan and Hussein and at this moment he says to Fatima Al-Zahra his daughter he says I did not mean to offend Hussein but I kissed the mouth of Hassan because he would be fed poison in many years from now that would lead toward his martyrdom and he says I began to kiss the neck and the chest of your son Hussein because in the tent of Muharram there was going to be a man who was going to sit on the chest of Hussein and sever his head from his body and at this moment Fatima Al-Zahra she says oh my father tell me for tell me what is going to happen to my two children through which the prophet now raised that which Jigra'ir has told him and after that Fatima Al-Zahra she is overwhelmed by grief she is overwhelmed by the tragedy she has not asked any other question but what she says oh my grandfather oh my father Muhammad tell me who is going to grieve for my son Hassan and Hussein she doesn't say what is this going to happen she doesn't say who is going to be there to help me the only thing that she asks is if you and I are not going to be there then who is going to grieve for my son Hussein and at this moment the prophet Al-Zahra he says oh my daughter Fatima in a day many days from this one generation after generation we are going to weep for your son Hussein and they are going to be women from different generations we are going to weep for your women and at this moment Fatima Al-Zahra she says and then what to which the prophet Al-Zahra says oh Fatima around the day of judgment for every tear that falls down from their eye you will intercede for them on the day of judgment then catch it and allow for them to enter into paradise على العلاحناة الله على القوم الغولمين انا لله وإنا إليه ربهم بسك الله سبحانه وتعالى by our grief and by our love for Hussein ربنا عليه عليه سلام when we ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى by Hussein و جد و جد و أبي و أمه و أخي و تسأل المقسومين من نريةه سلواتك عليهم و أسك الله سبحانه وتعالى to forgive our sins by our love for Hussein و أسك الله سبحانه وتعالى to grant this paradise by our love for Hussein و أسك الله سبحانه وتعالى to give us the opportunity to serve Imam Hussein عليه سلام and his grandfather Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم و أسك الله سبحانه وتعالى to allow for the success of these Majada from the next ten nights و الحمد لله رب العالمين و صلى الله عليه وسلم و نبينا محمد و رحم الله من قرأه سورة المباركة