The Qaseeda Khairul Anaam

 The Qaseeda Khairul Anaam

This elegiac qaseeda was written by Ali b. Hammād, in which he laments the martyrdom of Imam Husain AS and the cruelty and oppression he and the Ahl al-Bayt AS faced in Karbala.

It has long been a custom during the ʿAshara Mubaraka sermons for this qaseeda to be recited by Mumineen prior to the commencement of waʿz.

وَالْبَرَّةُ الزَّهْرَاءُ وَالْحَسَنَان

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خَيْرُ الْأَنَامِ مُحَمَّدٌ وَوَصِيُّه

The most beneficent of all people are the Prophet Mohammed SAW, his legatee, Maulana Ali SA,

the righteous, Fatima al-Zahra SA and the two Imams, Hasan AS and Husain AS.

هُدِيَ الْوَرَى مِنْ حَيْرَةِ الطُّغْيَان

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قَوْمٌ بِهِمْ كُشِفَ الْعَمَى وَبِهَدْيِهِمْ

They are the people thanks to whom a state of blindness (ignorance) was alleviated, and due to whose counsel

mankind was guided away from the disorientation of tyranny.

وَبِهِمْ يُنَادَى وَقْتَ كُلِّ أَذَان

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مَنْ لَا تَتِمُّ صَلَاتُنَا إلاَّ بِهِمْ

Without them our salat would be incomplete,

and it is their names that are called out in every azan.

وَالمُوْضِحُوْنَ شَرَائِعَ الْأِيْمَان

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خُزَّانُ عِلْمِ اللهِ مَهْبَطُ وَحْيِه

They are the treasurers of Allah’s knowledge, the place of Allah’s revelation,

and the explainers of the tenets of faith.

وَهَوَى مُخَالِفُه إِلَى الْخُسْرَان

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حَبْلُ الْإِلهِ فَمَنْ تَعَلَّقَه نَجَا

They are the rope of Allah; whosoever holds firmly to them will be rescued,

while their detractor will fall to ruin.

سُفُنُ النَّجَاةِ دَعَائِمُ الْإِيْمَان

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أَعْلَامُ دِيْنِ اللهِ أَرْكَانُ الْهُدَى

They are the beacons of Allah’s religion, the cornerstones of guidance,

the ships of salvation and the pillars of faith.

كَرْبِي وَأَذْكَتْ فِي الْحَشَا أَحْزَانِي

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وَلَقَدْ وَقَفْتُ بِكَرْبَلَاءَ فَجَدَّدَتْ

Indeed while I stood in Karbala, it awoke

my anguish and set ablaze my sorrows inside me.

مَوْلَايَ وَا أَسَفَا عَلَى الْعَطْشَان

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وَذَكَرْتُ فِي عَاشُوْرَا مَصْرَعَ سَيِّدِيْ

And on the day of ʿAshura I recalled the martyrdom of my lord,

my Maula Husain AS; woe upon the thirsty, Imam Husain AS!

بِدَمٍ وَدَمْعٍ دَائِمِ التَّهْتَان * وَلَأَبْكِيَنَّ عَلَى الْحُسَيْنِ وَصَحْبِه

And I shall surely grieve over Imam Husain AS and his companions,

by shedding blood and tears that pour forth endlessly!

بِالطَّفِّ فَرْدًا نَازِحَ الْأَوْطَان * وَلَأَبْكِيَنَّ عَلَى غَرِيْبِ مُحَمَّدٍ

And I shall lament emphatically over the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed SAW,

a stranger in Karbala, alone and far from his homeland!

عُرْيَانَ مَطْرُوْحًا بِلَا أَكْفَان * وَلَأَبْكِيَنَّ عَلَى الْقَتِيْلِ بِكَرْبَلَا

And I shall cry endlessly for the martyred in Karbala,

left uncovered and abandoned without shrouds!

مَسْبِيَّةً بِالظُّلْمِ وَالْعُدْوَان * وَلَأَبْكِيَنَّ عَلَى بَنَاتِ مُحَمَّدٍ

And I shall weep without fail for the daughters of the Prophet Mohammed SAW,

made captive by oppression and tyranny!

فِي الْحَشْرِ عِنْدَ الْوَاحِدِ الْمَنَّان * مَا عُذْرُ قَاتِلِ أَهْلِ بَيْتِ مُحَمَّدٍ

What excuse does the slaughterer of the Prophet Mohammed SAW’s Ahl al-Bayt AS have

before the Almighty One and The Benefactor on the Day of Resurrection?

لكِنْ لَهُمْ يَوْمٌ عَظِيْمُ الشَّأْن * مَا اللهُ عَنْ ظُلْمِ الْعِبَادِ بِغَافِلٍ

Allah is not unaware of mankind’s oppression.

Nay, a day of profound consequence, the Day of Judgement, is in store for them.

مَا غَرَّدَ الْقُمْرِيُّ فِي الْأَغْصَان * صَلَّى الْإِلهُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ وَآلِه

May Allah bless the Prophet Mohammed SAW and his progeny,

for as long as the turtle dove sings in the branches of trees.