O’ Zainab… Asghar’s crib… by our hand shall forever keep on swaying
Our infants… just exist… to sooth Asghar’s thirst with their tears and crying
Don’t fear if you see from thirst he’s dying
We have centuries of tears he can drink
O’ Zainab… O’ Zainab
* * *
O’ Zainab… by the rib… of your mother that with your ears you heard break
Like that sound… beckons shrouds… the cries of the thirsty child keep us awake
Yes I know… that your soul… when hearing him, from your throat wants to escape
Don’t lament… this infant’s… tale does not end with thirst sealing his fate
Vessels burst… when his thirst… shall be quenched by the blood of his own pure neck
Only then… from the pain… the cries of this thirsty child you shall forget
Woe to those who ask how we’re still crying
We have centuries of tears he can drink
O’ Zainab… O’ Zainab
* * *
O’ Zainab… tell Rabab… to prolong her lullabies into the night
Yes it’s hard… from the thirst… he no longer knows what his mother looks like
Let her sing… it won’t end… beating our chests her lullabies we’ll recite
Let her gaze… at his eyes… tomorrow from grief her pupils shall turn white
O’ Rabab… know Yaqoob… from losing Yusuf for mere years lost his sight
Be careful… tomorrow… what you see may make you tear out both your eyes
After him, is there any use seeing?
We have centuries of tears he can drink
O’ Zainab… O’ Zainab
* * *
O’ Zainab… let me beg… to the thirsty child don’t let Abbas come close
We both know… Asghar’s thirst… will make the veins in Abbas’s head explode
Hear his sword… how it calls… the ground to prepare for thousands of abodes
Like cattle… men shall fall… Abbas becomes death if Hussain just says “go”
O’ Zainab… I don’t want… Asghar to feel the warmth of Abbas’s hands
Because when… the arrow… strikes his neck he’ll call out for his uncle’s hands
Tell him when you see his arms fluttering
We have centuries of tears he can drink
O’ Zainab… O’ Zainab
* * *
O’ Zainab… don’t despair… if you don’t see Hussain glance at the infant
There’s no strength… no courage… strong enough to prepare him for this event
Know that when… he holds him… he’ll age hundreds of yeas just from the torment
When he takes… Asghar there… he’ll reach them with a grey beard and his back bent
O’ Zainab… the infant… does not know what it feels like to feel such pain
And when it… strikes his neck… he’ll forget he’s in the arms of his Hussain
Asghar won’t hear his own father crying
We have centuries of tears he can drink
O’ Zainab… O’ Zainab
* * *
The time comes… Hussain’s son… is raised by his father’s one hand to the sky
And he asks… the army… is it just that this six month old’s tongue is dry?
You’ve taught him… what thirst is… he’s so thirsty, no tears can flow from his eye
They respond… the three-pronged… strikes his head and he throws his blood to the sky
O’ Zainab… we don’t sleep… Asghar’s killing makes the strands of our soul ache
What father… can ever… bear to hear the bones of his baby’s neck break?
From this infant’s neck, Muhammad’s weeping
We have centuries of tears he can drink
O’ Zainab… O’ Zainab
* * *
O’ Zainab… perhaps it… is better Ali Asghar had met his Lord
No baby’s… eyes should see… what happens after his father draws his sword
The arrows… all over… him as if the taste of his blood they adored
When he fell… where was he… in his last moments where had his mind travelled?
Is Asghar… not lucky… to not see his father ridden with arrows?
Yes his neck… spilled blood, but… from seventeen-hundred wounds Hussain’s blood flows
Asghar will not hear Hussain’s bones crushing
We have centuries of tears he can drink
O’ Zainab… O’ Zainab
* * *
O’ Zainab… when you leave… do not fear that Hussain’s not been laid to rest
All bodies… when buried… shall purify the dust and make the land blessed
When Sajjad… shall return… his father’s dead body shall be in distress
From his neck… Hussain cries… “the baby, the baby, put it on my chest!”
My Master… I ask you… what chest was left to rest the baby upon?
You lay him… Asghar falls… and the two torn up bodies both become one
When does Asghar end and Hussain begin?
We have centuries of tears he can drink
O’ Zainab… O’ Zainab
* * *
London – 13/10/18