The Virtue of Abbas

A king in the heavens and a master on earth,

No wish leaves his lips since the day of his birth,

For wealth is mere dust and the world, divorced thrice,

And princes who lead the dwellers of paradise,

A brother who forever is the best of all men,

Inseparable now and inseparable then,

With one world at his feet and the next in the palm of his hand,

This king has a wish and in prayer he stands,

The angels bewildered at what such a man could need,

They patiently wait to see what the king's Lord has decreed...

And soon comes a response to the Amir's constant prayers,

And earth becomes impatient to see what great gift heaven bears,

For such commotion is only for revelations divine,

When destinies are tied and huge missions assigned,

And so the earth wonders at what wonders might come,

Whether all its legends can by this child be outdone,

For what child begins his mission from the confines of a womb?

Forcing his mother up when his master is sensed in the room,

Moses and Jesus and Job come to mind,

But no, this child somehow leaves them behind,

And Joseph and Jacob and Adam come too,

Yet still this boy beyond their heights flew.

And why not? When his father was only through prophets described,

And today through Haidar's merits, Abbas we describe.

Feared to be Ali even by the men of Siffeen,

But it was Abbas in Karbala that we should have seen,

When bravery itself became the guard of Hussain,

His arms and eyes gone and his body was slain,

Yet every one of his visitors will swear he's alive,

For through his virtues his soul has survived.

And what virtues...where does a lover begin?

Is it his purity, never tainted by sin?

Or the bottomless well of knowledge divine,

Or the fact that amongst suns, the moon somehow still shines,

Maybe his courage unflinching, standing tall and brave,

Or that nothing but servitude to Hussain did he crave,

Or his humility humbling even Karbala's dust,

Or the unspoken oath he lived with all's trust,

Perhaps his brotherhood that put even motherhood in awe,

Or beating patience itself, as the Euphrates saw,

Or loyalty that will never be witnessed again,

Maybe generosity that renders his beggars insane,

Or the fact that to every fulfilment he is the key,

The gateway to swaying the Merciful's decree,

Or mercy, or endurance or absence of fear,

Perhaps his vision of morality so clear,

Or compassion or sacrifice or undying love,

Maybe his wisdom untaught from above...

Where to begin, a lover would have no clue,

But this was something the Almighty already knew,

He knew that an eternity would pass and another would come,

And the earth's ink could diminish and all tongues could go numb,

So through His wisdom a title He gave,

Not 'the kind', 'the wise' or even 'the brave'...

When in all the commotion earth and heaven were torn,

A new virtue with the name of 'Abbas' was born.