As the student falls in love with his teacher
Know we are proud to be students of Jafar
From his knowledge… comes our courage
* * *
This is the intellect breathed into Medina
This is the pearl that was given to Um Farwa
In his blood flows the courage, valour of Haider
His tongue spoke the sword of the hero of Badr
If Ali’s sword took Mohammed’s pen and taught
To each battle Jafar’s school it would have brought
From this image… comes our courage
* * *
Imagine a teacher God’s words inherited
And spread these words far and wide despite all hatred
And with holy ink a grand canvas he painted
Till a better world for all of us he crafted
What do you expect when his mother’s a rose
And a lion’s heart for her husband she chose
From this lineage… comes our courage
* * *
This teacher to a father he can be likened
When he enlightened a student’s soul once blackened
He welded the student’s mind to be well-reasoned
Yet how did it reason with its beloved poisoned?
How does the orphan not weep on his father?
How does the eye weep upon wisdom’s murder?
From this voyage… comes our courage
* * *
He who attacks our beliefs and with confidence
Know Imam Sadiq breathed into our world conscience
He taught Jaber Ibn Hayyan of his science
And the four Sunni Imams of jurisprudence
He taught men who’d come to him from far and wide
Who knows how far his knowledge spread with this tide
With pride vintage… comes our courage
* * *
He who hates us for placing ourselves in this sect
Know that we have seen our religion as perfect
We analyse every lesson and we reflect
What separates us from you is our intellect
For with this school we are free to think and learn
With open minds we’ve searched and found religion
From this message… comes our courage
* * *
I was blessed to learn in this school but a student
To be called a Shia makes life worth each moment
Imam Sadiq had paved the way for this movement
We are swept away with its undying current
Truly in the Quranic verse wisdom lives
‘You must show love toward my near relatives’
From this passage… comes our courage
* * *
It is we who preserved the faith of Mohammed
On one side through his teachings that Sadiq rethread
The other raised upon a spear, a severed head
Hussain as on Karbala’s dust his body bled
It is us through our endless cries and wails
Have to Islam’s true teachings left blood-trails
From this damage… comes our courage
* * *
(London – 13/09/11)