Imam Hadi’s (AS) Lasting Legacy(1)

Sunday 14 January 2024Year 1959 Number 12170

Imam Hadi’s (AS) Lasting Legacy
By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz

“Protected by valiant warriors they passed the night on the peak of their mountains, but these mountains did not protect them.

“After all their power and pomp they had to descend from their lofty fortresses to the custody of the tombs.

“O what a dreadful change their graves had hardly received them when a voice heard exclaiming,

“Where are the thrones and the crowns and the robes of State?

“Where are now the faces of the delicate, which were shaded by veils and protected by curtains?

“To this the tomb replied: The worms are now revelling upon these faces.

“Long were these men eating and drinking, but now they are eaten by the worms in turn.”
The above passage is a translation of eloquently moving Arabic verses, composed extempore. These are not the words of a poet, but of a Saint who was under pressure from a murderous tyrant. So electrifying was the effect of these verses which expose the realities of the grave for power-drunk potentates that the tyrant burst into tears and reluctantly asked his intended victim to leave in peace.

Continued in the next post.....