/ / Shaam e Ghareeban - شامِ غریباں / /
Where are you, O al-Fādhal Abbasع,
now that your sister, Zainabع
sits, bareheaded under the night sky
on guard against all evils.
What have they done
to you, O Zainabع
that you so not even recognize your own father,
asks Aliع when he meets with
his daughter after his journey from Najaf.
They call you Ummul Masaib;
the mother of tragedies
and that is nothing but the truth.
The night has settled in
but sleep stays far away
from Rubabع,
much like Asgharع,
whose calls she hears
in the dead of the night. 'My Asgharع is alone
and afraid.
I must go to him at once.'
she says as Zainabع consoles her.
Tonight, Lailaع in her dreams,
doesn't find peace,
nor does Fizzaع.
Tonight, Farwaع is restless
without Qasimع.
Yā Abbasع where are you
now that your sisters need your protection?
Yā Hussainع, tonight,
your sisters
and your daughters
and your wives sleep
under the open sky,
in the sands of Karbala
just as you sleep in the battlefield.
