Zul Janah. (3rd position)

                                                                   Zul Janah.

Arwa Najmuddin Diwan

Class 6A 

 

Tears rolling down his face, bare-backed and severely wounded, his hair covered in the blood of his slain Master, wailing a constant cry of anguish whilst signaling in his mute language that all was lost, he stood against the silhouette of the setting sun, informing Moulatena Zainab AS,  Moulatena Sakina AS and Imam Zain-al Abedin AS, that Imam Husain AS was beheaded in the most barbaric of ways on the hot sands of Karbala, and that the body was being trampled upon by horses and men alike.

What thoughts must have raced through his mind at that moment? Torn between wanting to protect his Master's body from the onslaught of such animals-never to leave his side, or to gallop towards the Ahl- al Bayt AS and inform them, that Imam Hussain AS had been mercilessly slain and that they would be subjected to such brutality, that neither the Romans nor the Egyptians nor the Greeks had ever witnessed.

Zul Janah was his name. Alongside Imam Hussain AS and the Ahl- al Bayt AS, he too was deprived of water but had refused to hydrate himself before his master had taken a sip. But that was not to be, Maula had gone thirsty.

Any ordinary horse would have collapsed or rushed for water, but he knew, that it was his duty to reach the tents, which would soon be set afire. This was what Imam Husain AS would expect him to do. 

After witnessing the atrocities committed by the ignorant barbarians, Zul Janah was reminiscent of the time he became the lucky horse that was chosen by Imam AS. He recalled the Panjatan Pak AS surrounding the young Imam AS, smiling and protecting him. In stark contrast to that, Amidst Karbala, Imam Husain AS was all alone encircled by enemies that were as low as dogs and swine. Zul Janah wept on the fact that the first time he had bent his front legs were to pick up the young Imam AS, and the last time that he bent his front legs was to make sure the wounded Imam AS safely landed on his feet in the scorching sands of Karbala.

He had lovingly carried Imam Husain AS on his back ever since Imam AS was a toddler and now, he had just seen the cruelest forms of torture inflicted on his master who was attacked from all sides with arrows, swords, spears, and sharp-edged stones. His bleeding heart, on watching this inhumane cruelty, translated into overflowing tears.