With no family… he calls out proudly
“If I had a thousand sons I’d name them all Ali”
By the son of Ali… we’ll never leave Ali
* * *
By our guide Mohammed who never told a lie
By the tears for his grandson that on the eye lie
By the household that never once uttered “I lie”
By the awaited saviour to whom we ally
By these moons never late and suns never early
Not a lie, on our eyes lies “allied to Ali”
The eye never lies… written on our eyes
We’ll never leave Ali even if every eye dies
To prove we’re with Ali… we swear it by Ali
* * *
Against seventy thousand he cried out “Haider”
A pride that slept in his blood and none could hide her
Against the world he held the pride of his leader
Against the seven skies like a flash of thunder
He replied when they cried “we shall avenge Badr”
“Ali is my leader and none could be prouder”
He killed thirty-five… for vengeance they’d strive
And yet one thousand years later, Ali’s still alive
Always living, Ali… none can defeat Ali
* * *
His allegiance is not choice, it flows in the blood
All created from mud, but us from Ali’s mud
The father of dust became to dust a beloved
And turned every grain of dust into a rose bud
The eye’s gaze stays fixed on whatever the eye’s loved
And against the shore of Ali his lovers flood
Just like skin and hair… or breathing and air
His name is fused with our blood and comforts all despair
In the bloodstream, Ali… unseperable, Ali
* * *
To Hussain his father was not just a parent
Their connection a secret and not apparent
If Ali was the perfume, Hussain was the scent
If Ali’s the memory, Hussain’s the moment
Against the world with Ali he was defiant
Just as we’ve held onto Ali despite torment
He saw Ali’s worth… and cried with our birth
“We are with Ali if against the turn of the Earth”
When all hated Ali… we stood beside Ali
* * *
Seeing the strike on the head of Ali Akbar
Hussain remembers the strike upon his father
Like the strike on his father yet like no other
The strike does not reach his skull but reaches further
To the name ‘Ali’ no other was worthier
They wanted to kill Ali and found another
And all Hussain sees… are the two Alis
Two memories clash together like the clash of seas
The son he’d named Ali… had become like Ali
* * *
From the love of his father, daily, he would sip
“Ali” on his tongue and “Ali” upon each lip
Against the sea of enemies like a warship
He cries out “remembering Ali is worship”
Seeking Ali’s love, arrows into his chest rip
Till the ship of salvation boarded Ali’s ship
And still this Hussain… on Karbala’s plain
Cries out “Ali’s in my heart, my soul and every vein”
Headless, he meets Ali… in the love of Ali
* * *
(London – 17/02/14)