Stay… your mother wants you to smile
You leave her to cry and wail… stay
* * *
Qassim… I am your uncle and this is my battle
Qassim… tell me the yearning for death why do you feel?
Qassim… this is my tragedy, this is my trial
Qassim… don’t let me hear another mother’s wail
Stay… on me your mother’s tears hail
You leave her to cry and wail… stay
* * *
Tell me… your eyes they see a path that before you beams
Tell me… is it your martyrdom or your mother’s dreams
Tell me… for her emotions, what shall tomorrow deem?
Tell me… will tears of joy or of grief from her eyes stream?
Stay… her heart is caught in a gale
You leave her to cry and wail… stay
* * *
Listen… she’s a mother and every mother’s the same
Listen… every day, of your wedding your mother dreams
Listen… if this dream of hers impossible became
Listen… her heart would ache every time she heard your name
Stay… daily she’ll recall this tale
You leave her to cry and wail… stay
* * *
Her heart… she entrusted to you, left it in your hands
Her heart… she gifted to you all its rivers and lands
Her heart… and slip through your hands would the grains of its sands
Her heart… so tell her why with no heart your mother stands?
Stay… with the one who’d sway your cradle
You leave her to cry and wail… stay
* * *
Her eyes… would wake in the morning longing for your sight
Her eyes… saw all as darkness but saw your face as light
Her eyes… yearned the comfort of your eyes when left in fright
Her eyes… for but a glance of you, the world they would fight
Stay… without your sight, her skin pale
You leave her to cry and wail… stay
* * *
Your eyes… the yearning for martyrdom in them I find
Your eyes… make me realise you won’t sleep if left behind
Your eyes… looked like Hassan’s eyes when with mine they aligned
Your eyes… and my brother’s requests I’ve never declined
Stay… or go and embrace this trail
You leave her to cry and wail… stay
* * *
You go… wearing your father’s armour and his turban
You go… whilst your mother prepares for you a coffin
You go… she throws away every marriage-thought and dream
You go… her dreams die and become her tribulation
Stay… is something she cries out while
You leave her to cry and wail… stay
* * *
(Istanbul – 13/11/12)