1.
Fourteen were created without defects
And I’ll show you them in 100 couplets
Although their worth is far greater
2.
It’s no surprise perfect they were created
God created them for morals he perfected
The impeccable Creator
3.
He put within them the greatest virtues
That embarassed the Ka’ba’s idols & statues
That shook the idol worshipper
4.
He then used them to split man into two
Their haters were many and lovers few
Lovers of truth were their lovers
5.
When Muhammad was born, humanity woke
Ready to submit to the 5 of the cloak
To the finest law and order
6.
He was born in the “Year of the Elephant”
When even hearts from their chests were absent
When fathers would bury daughters
7.
He was sent to men who were the worst of their kind
A mercy of his Lord upon all mankind
Like his Lord he was a carer
8.
He taught that women to life have a birthright
That there was no difference between black & white
Only faith made status higher
9.
In the desert he made a revolution
From desert Arabs emerged a nation
And it was not one of “terror”
10.
The lovers of greed threatened by Muhammad
Sought to crush the movement of freedom he led
Defiant was the oppressor
11.
But for God Muhammad was also defiant
And defended the free against the tyrant
A just man, inflicted with war
12.
With the corrupt Arabs Muhammad pleaded
Islam wasn’t forced, but it was what they needed
Water for roses that wither
13
He had no hate for Jews or Christianity
Muslims sheltered beneath the Christian Najaashi
With Christians they found shelter
14.
He just wanted justice where justice was scarce
He’s just and the justice of theirs was a farce
A human rights advocator
15.
He was the greatest man & the most trustworthy
To solve age-old battles only he was worthy
Of falsehood an opposer
16.
After #Muhammad, there then came Ali
The Ka’ba bore him & it bore him proudly
Born in the Ka’ba no other
17.
The first to testify in Ahmed’s message
The first to bow despite such a young age
He embarasses every elder
18.
When Muhammad declared, who was the first to stand?
When Muhammad preached God, Ali held his hand
Raised by the Messenger
19.
The son of faith, his father a believer
Whoever says otherwise is a deciever
He wed Ahmed to Khadija
20.
Together they were oppressed for years and years
The Muslims would wash for their prayers with tears
And it lasted forever
21.
They created a treaty from which nations would learn
It even inspired one’s constitution
Though its people are unaware
22.
But the Arabs ignored, tortured and oppressed
Against the walls of fear the Muslims were pressed
Of Pharoah’s Jews a mirror
23.
Till the Lord revealed – fight back and defend!
To all believers of one Lord your hand lend
And the armies met at Badr
24.
Against three-thousand, three-hundred & thirteen would strive
Seventy were killed, Ali killed thirty-five
An echo heard by the future
25.
The tyrants defeated, Muslims palm in palm
Greed was guilty and justice was Islam
Islam tyrants would always fear
26.
Islam was hated since the time of old
And they embodied it – the holy household
Hence they were hated even more
27.
Companions would come & companions would go
But in the holy house’s blood Islam would flow
Hatred for them was mightier
28.
Since the time of Badr evil always feared
That Islam for peace and for justice had cared
That it defeated its slayer
29.
But God had a plan that brought Ahmed delight
When Khadija gave birth to the Lady of Light
He named her Fatima Zahra
30.
The Queen for which creation was created
As she embodied the virtues all had awaited
To conquer the hereafter
31.
The mother of eleven of the finest of kings
Twelve Imams comforted beneath a mother’s wings
For them she was a provider
32.
Married to Ali and she would never marry
Were she not Zahra & were Ali not Ali
Because others weren’t worth her
33.
It’s only fitting she would only share a bed
With the one who slept in the Prophet’s bed instead
When they plotted murder
34.
The wielder of the Tholfiqar she married
The sword that carries men Ali had carried
No sword like his, no warrior
35.
He conquered Uhud when others ran away
Their faith would sway whilst his made Islam sway
He was a true believer
36.
The wielder of a strike that none could duck
No other would fight Ibn Wudd at Khandaq
For no other was called Haider
37.
In his birthplace he stands on Ahmed’s shoulders
He destroys the idols and the Ka’ba shudders
Defeating Al-Lat & Uzzah
38.
Defending Mecca with the men of Yethrib
He held the flag high & struck the head of Marhab
And raised the gate of Khaybar
39.
It’s no wonder that after Ahmed’s final Hajj
With Ali by his side, he gathered the Hujaaj
“Of whoever I’m a Master…”
40.
“Ali is a Master and now your religion
Has been completed with the upmost completion”
As the verse itself would declare
41.
To Ali the successor they pledged allegiance
But after Ahmed, they’d leave him in grievance
Their own greed they’d empower
42.
Muhammad when dying had asked the standing men
“So you’ll never go astray, bring me a pen…”
“Delusional” was his answer
43.
He passed and yet his funeral was empty
An election held whilst Ali would bury
The peak of moral and manner
44.
Within mere hours the Caliphate usurped
What followed was history’s hidden excerpt
When Ali’s house they would plunder
45.
They came to his door & Fatima cried no
They pushed the door on her ribs till her blood would flow
The door they set on fire
46.
They dragged Ali out and put him into chains
Seeing his wife in pain would boil his veins
But Ahmed had told him “sabr”
47.
She lost her child & by Muhammad’s grave
She’d cry and complain & her father she’d crave
Stars would fall when they’d hear
48.
She told Ali: “bury me in depths of night”
She told Fitha: “weep when no Quran I recite”
And she closed her final chapter
49.
If only she had seen the killer of Marhab
And how he reacted when he found her rib
Even the blind would shed a tear
50.
With those whom millions love she died angry
And caught between anger and patience was Ali
He sacrificed for the Ummah
51.
For decades Ali was silent and patient
His hair would turn grey and silently lament
Watching as evil would stir
52.
He sat through three and sat in a council of six
Watched them fight and kill eachother, what a mix
Today they’re all “promised Jannah”
53.
Uthman died and though he sent his sons to his door
The mother of believers demanded a war
Calling Ali his killer
54.
I wonder if she knew when riding that camel
She’d be loved despite killing thousands at Jamal
Today they call her “our mother”
55.
How many envied the Commander of Faithful
The haters of faith faithful to those hateful
He’d be cursed from the minbar
56.
The evil from which even Satan would shy
Fought against Ali beneath Sofeen’s cold sky
And killed Ammar Ibn Yassir
57.
Peace be upon you Amir Al-Momineen
Your patience fought by Jamal; Nahrawan; Sofeen
With God Himself they would differ
58.
Peace be upon the one who on one Fajr prayer
Woke up Ibn Muljim, within his eye a tear
So that he wouldn’t miss Fajr
59.
Peace be upon the one who when struck by his sword
Cried “I am successful, by the Kaba’s Lord!”
Demolished was Islam’s pillar
60.
Peace be upon the one who left Fatima’s children
Alone, hand in hand, orphan by an orphan
May God curse your destroyer
61.
From the ashes of Ali rose Imam Hassan
The lonliest of men against the worst of men
He stood against Muawiya
62.
Unlike his brother, he had no seventy-two
His only support were the grey hairs that now grew
None could be lonelier
63.
Who would think that one of the five of the cloak
He who even the Christians of Najran invoke
The one named Al Mojtaba
64.
Would be so alone that his killer is his wife
A wife should be life & his life took his life
Of his blood she was a buyer
65.
Buried in a coffin ridden with arrows
Even Muhammad couldn’t share his sorrows
Buried far from his grandfather
66.
It was after this that the orphaned Hussain
Apologised to his Lord before he’d complain
Of the trials of Nainawa
67.
The last of the cloak, all alone and broken
Broke his Hajj, leaving the house of God shaken
Weeping at his last Umra
68.
He would finish his Hajj, but the house of his Lord
Would become him, encircled by arrow and sword
A Safa awaiting Marwa
69.
He left and took with him his women and children
Knowing the false plead of those who’d written
Their ink the blood of traitors
70.
He went to reach Kufa but Hurr stopped him first
In the land of shed blood and ten days of thirst
The land of Karbala
71.
It was on the tenth day that the eyes of Hurr saw
That truth was Hussain and so began the war
And he fought with thirty soldiers
72.
The seventy-second verse sees seventy-two
Steadfast against thousands though their numbers were few
The peak of valour & honour
73.
Names that even infinity knows are endless
Muslim; Zuhair; John and Aabis the fearless
Led by Habib Muthahir
74.
All faced their death upon Karbala’s plain
If killed a thousand times they’d return for Hussain
None more courageous nor braver
75.
His nephew Qassim killed beneath the scorching sun
Hassan’s son complimented with Hussain’s own son
In his arms lay Ali Akbar
76.
Then Abbas couldn’t bear the childrens’ thirst
He reached the river and though in thirst he immersed
He threw away the water
77.
He rode back with water but they cut off his hands
An arrow in his eye, he fell on those sands
Bloodstained were his feathers
78.
Hussain picked up his thirsty 6-month infant
What’s his sin he cried, as from thirst he’d lament
And they slaughtered Ali Asghar
79.
Surrounded by bodies, he called out all alone
Is there any to help me? The wind replied, none
And he wore his father’s armour
80.
Seventeen hundred wounds upon our Imam
He fell and as Fatima kissed his palm
He was beheaded by Shimr
81.
God bless Zainab’s patience & salutes her Mary
And Imam Sajjad when his father he’d bury
The head once raised on a spear
82.
Hussain’s son became the prince of all who prostrate
His 8 prostations in noon gave birth to eight
His son was Imam Baqir
83.
Kings’ reigns bring gold but Baqir’s brought scholars
A scholar’s book thanks him when its pages flutter
A sea of a scholar
84.
His son Jafar Sadiq, the father of our school
Our faith a fire that his teachings would fuel
How much is owed to Jafar?
85.
The son of The Truthful was The Patient Kadhom
In prison he conquered the prison within him
His son was Imam Ridha
86.
The stranger of Toos in a strange land would stand
Killed but in his death he conquered the land
Now he comforts the stranger
87.
His son Jawad was the master of all youth
At 25 he didn’t know, he led the truth
No excuse for those younger
88.
His son Hadi, the first of the Askariyain
Prepared the ground first built by the blood of Hussain
For his grandson & avenger
89.
It was known to whom Askari’s wife would give birth
With Askari’s death he vanished from Earth
We waited for Mehdi for years
90.
We waited & with us time itself would wait
His absence crippled times back, how much was its weight?
No absence is heavier
91.
Waiting to glimpse into the eye of our beloved
Awaiting his hand, the heads of the unloved
The oppressed’s own saviour
92.
We’ve waited till life, not just hairs, turned grey
The sky turns red with blood as the Heavens sway
The late hour grew later
93.
I swear O’ Imam we work on ourselves
And as those that seek carnage just fool themselves
We grow mightier & stronger
94.
We’re ready for you, if we’re not, make us ready
The tides crash against us but we remain steady
And in your wind we flutter
95.
Crushed beneath their feet but roses we remain
Even in death holding high the flag of Hussain
That will never change, ever
96.
I hope that you return before these verses end
With each 100 verses, 1000 prayers I send
To the Lord of each worshipper
97.
Lord return he who in his face I’ll see clearly
Hussain; Hassan; Muhammad; Fatima & Ali
The pride of every twelver
98.
O’ Lord I’d let go of all those I hold dear
Just to see this Household’s eyes & into them peer
And to the Mehdi surrender
99.
And if I die, resurrect me with these verses
I’ll narrate to him these 100 praises
And we’ll smile and cry together
100.
If you don’t return, I won’t write you a second
What’s 100 verses? I’ll write you a thousand
I swear it, none are worthier
(London – 14/04/15)