PART
2 Karbala, the Aftermath
Click here to listen to the sound clip at the beginning of scene
1
Scene
1: KARBALA, 10 MUHARRAM (Martyrdom of
Imam Husain (as) )
(dead
bodies with torn clothes and blood lying around)
Narrator: (in a very factual voice, always offstage) Karbala, the Tenth of Muharram
Imam
Husain: (enters stage, looks at dead bodies, and then
faces audience) Hal min naasirin
yansuruna? Will no one help
us? Hal
min mu'eenin yu'eenuna? Will no one
come to our aid?
(silence)
Imam
Husain: (turns to Zainab) My dear
Zainab, the end has come. Take care of
the widows and the orphans and my sick son Ali. And stand firm. Do not
succumb to sorrow. For you have the
responsibility of passing on our message.
Zainab: I will do what you say, my brother.
Imam
Husain: Sukayna, my daughter, I must
go.
Sukayna: No Baba, don't leave me!
Imam
Husain: My dearest, I have to. Allah has ordained that we stand up for
truth and justice, and fight for the oppressed against the oppressors, even if
we have to give up our own lives.
Sukayna:
Promise me you'll take me with you.
Imam
Husain: Allah has favored us all with martyrdom,
Sukayna. Soon I will see your brothers
and your cousins in Heaven, and one day I will see you there too.
Sukayna: Go then, I will wait to see you again.
Zainab: Dear brother, Abbas is gone, Ali Akbar is gone, Qasim is gone,
and so are Ja'far and Aun. No one is
left to help you onto your horse. Let
me come with you and do this final task for you.
Imam Husain: May Allah bless you,
my sister.
(SFX: Horse neighing)
Imam
Husain: (facing the women) I give my final farewell to you now. Al-widaa! Al-widaa!
(Women
remain in tent on edge of stage)
Laila: (crying)
Husain! Husain! (other women and children wail and weep)
Imam
Husain: (facing soldiers of Yazid) Emissaries of Yazid! Do you know who I am?
Ibn
Sa'd: You are Husain, the son of Ali, the son of
Fatimah, the grandson of the Prophet!
Imam
Husain: You acknowledge my
grandfather is your prophet, and you still want to kill me? What crime have I
committed?
Ibn
Sa'd: We give you one last chance. Accept Yazid as your leader, or die.
Imam
Husain: I can never submit to an unjust tyrant. I look at death, and I see only prosperity
and happiness. Inni la araa al-mawta illa sa'aada wal-hayaat ma'a al-zaalimeena illa
barama. Al-widaa!
Ibn
Sa'd: Fire!
Click here to listen to the sound clip for when Imam
Husain (as) gets hit
(Imam
Husain rides out. Enemy soldiers pelt
him with arrows. Eventually he falls)
Imam
Husain: Allah, I have sacrificed myself and my loved
ones for You and for Islam. I give
myself to Your decree, and I accept Your will.
Ibn
Sa'd: (from a safe distance) Cowards!
Hadha ibn anza'a al-bateen, haadha
ibn qattaal al-'arab. You've got
the son of the guy who massacred the infidels cornered. Cut off his head! (Looks at soldiers, who back off uneasily)
Harmala: They won't cut off the head of the grandson of their
Prophet. They're afraid to.
Ibn
Sa'd: (sarcastically, taking the
Lord's name in vain) God... (to Harmala) Bring me a Christian man.
(Harmala
drags Christian Soldier, who is wearing a large cross, over)
Ibn
Sa'd: You see that man. (pointing to Imam Husain)
Christian
Soldier: Yes.
Ibn
Sa'd: Go out into the field, and bring me his
head.
Christian
Soldier: Yes, Commander.
Imam
Husain: O Christian man.
Christian
Soldier: (disturbed, surprised -- how does Imam
Husain know that he is Christian?)
What?
Imam
Husain: O Christian man, have you
read the Bible?
Christian Soldier: Yes, I have.
Imam
Husain: Have you read what it says
about my grandfather, Ahmad the Comforter?
Christian
Soldier: (awed) Sayyidi, you are Husain, the
son of Ali, the son of Fatimah, the grandson of your Prophet?
Imam
Husain: I am.
Christian
Soldier: And the grandson of their Prophet too?
Imam Husain: Yes.
Christian
Soldier: Sayyidi... take my hand... I bear
witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger. Ashhadu an laa ilaahi illa Allah wa
ashhadu anna Muhammadan rasul Allah.
(looks at army) What can I do?
Imam Husain: Take your sword,
and defend the Household of the Prophet.
(Arrows
fired at Christian Soldier; he falls)
Ibn
Sa'd: This is a disaster. Is there anyone out there who doesn't care
who he is?
Shimr: I don't. I
will do it.
Ibn
Sa'd: You will be rewarded.
Shimr:
Husain!
Meet your last! (Rushes out and attacks Imam Husain, who defends
himself)
Imam
Husain: Shimr, do you know what you are doing?
Shimr: Your life is through, son
of Fatimah!
(Shimr
sits on the chest of Imam Husain, sword poised. A brief pause)
Zainab: Wa Muhamadaa! Wa abatah!
Wa Aliyaa! Look at Husain,
lying on the ground! May the sky fall
and the mountains crumble. O Allah!
Imam
Husain: Shimr, we give the animals water before we
kill them. Are you going to slaughter
me when I have had no water for three days?
Shimr:
Wallah
that is exactly what I intend to do!
Imam
Husain: O Allah, guide these people, for they know
not what they do.
(Shimr
slices at Imam Husain's blessed neck)
Imam
Husain: Bismillah
wa billah wa 'alaa millati rasul allah.
Shimr:
Die!
(Slice at Imam Husain's head)
(Lights
out)
Imam
Husain: (the voice of one dying) I come to meet you, O Lord. La
ilaaha siwaak. [dies]
Shimr:
(cuts off the head of imam Husain and holds
it up) Behold! The head of Husain Ibn Ali Ibn Abi Talib!!!! (takes it, leaps in victory and goes off)
Click here to listen to the sound effects after the
head of the Imam (as) is severed
(Darkness. SFX:
eerie winds whistling, horse hooves trotting)
Laila: (offstage, yelling)
Dhul Jenah has returned! Husain
is dead!
(Lights
on)
(Women
and children rush on, screaming, crying, and hitting themselves)
Sukayna:
(throwing herself beside the body) Baba!
Zainab:
My brother!
My imam!
Laila:
Wa
Husainah, Wa Imamah!
(Women
and children yell and cry. Soldiers
standing staring in shock and awe.)
Ibn
Sa'd: (putting his arm around Shimr in
congratulations) Well done, well done!
Zainab:
(standing
over the body, hands raised in prayer) Ilaahi
taqabbal minna haadhal qurbah. O Allah, accept from us this sacrifice! Inna
lillah wa inna ilayhi raji'oun! To
You we belong, and to You we return!
(Fade out crying of women/children. SFX:
Latmiyyah about the death of Imam Husain (as))
Click here to listen to the sound clip at the end of Scene
1