History of the March

By the late Syed-Mohsin Naquvi

April 7, 2006/8th of Rabi ul Awwal

There is always a great sense of anticipation for Muharram and it is welcomed every year with great enthusiasm. The activities begin on the first day of the month of [Islamic month of] Muharram and last the entire months of Muharram and Safar and the first eight days of the month of Rabi-ul-Awwal. The 8th day of Rabi-ul-Awwal is termed as the Last Day of Aza [mourning]. That is also the anniversary of the martyrdom of the eleventh Imam, Hasan al-Askari (as), whose glorious mausoleum is located in the city of Samarra in Iraq. It was this same mausoleum whose golden dome was destroyed in February, 2006 during the Iraq War. On this day a last Salute is offered to the martyrs of Karbala. That euphoria that was experienced in welcoming Muharram turns into a great sadness. Muharram, as we noted, is a sad thing all over anyway, but this second kind of sadness is of a different kind. There is some disappointment mixed with sadness in that the mourner feels that he/she could not do enough by way of lamentation and mourning. There is a feeling that Husayn and other martyrs of Karbala as well as the other holy souls of the Ahlul-Bayt [a term used for the Prophet, his beloved daughter  Fatima Zahra (pbuh), her husband Ali Ibn Abi Talib (pbuh) , and their sons Hasan (pbuh) and Husayn (pbuh)] visited the homes of the mourners in their spiritual existence and glorified the homes of the mourners. That presence comes to an end on the 8th day of Rabi-ul-Awwal. The feeling is exactly that of a humble host saying farewell to an honored guest in the house. It is the loss of that honor of hosting the glorious guest that adds to the sadness of the occasion.

Special assemblies are held and special processions are taken out on the 8th day of Rabi-ul-Awwal. The most notable and prominent of those processions is the one taken out in the streets of the city of Lucknow in India. The procession begins early in the morning when it is still dark, right after the Fajr prayers. Some quarter of a million people walk on the streets in a simple formation. No Matam [the ritual beating of chests in lamentation] is done, no loud recitals are done either. One can imagine the impact of such a large number of people walking quietly in a simple formation, silently, with their heads down. No conversation is held, no smoking, no eating, no drinking, and no exchange of greetings is done either.

That tradition is more than two-hundred and fifty years old. It is known as the CHUP T’AZIYA (or the silent mourning). People of all sects, religions and societies converge on the city of Lucknow to participate in Chup T’aziya. While the two months of mourning is limited to the Shi’a community of Lucknow, the high point of the Chup T’aziya event is its pluralism and diversity. 

When I explore my own childhood memories, as far as I can go back, I see our friends, relatives and acquaintances who would continue arriving in our house the night before the Chup T’aziya as late as the early hours of the morning. Some 20-25 guests would arrive in our house from places such as Kanpur, Allahabad, Unnao and the surrounding villages. After catching a few hours sleep, they would all proceed to the Chup T’aziya. The procession would end in late afternoon in the oldest part of the town. From there they would depart for their hometowns.

The greatest crime in this world is when man becomes harsh, oppressive and cruel to another human being. To reduce the possibility of a person becoming harsh and oppressive towards others, man is educated in humility, kindness and human values by both his environment as well as a conscious effort made by those who manage the social structure of the community. This exercise in lamentation and mourning during Muharram is a very effective instrument in that education for acquiring kindness, humility and tenderheartedness. 

Poetry has played a great role in that methodology from time immemorial. The famous English poet named P.B. Shelley had written years ago: “Our sweetest songs are those which are sung in the saddest tones.”

Nothing could be truer than this for the dirges, laments, the marsiyya, the Soz and the Salam [melodic eulogies and poetry] composed in various languages of the world which are recited during the Muharram commemoration. Some of them have acquired much popularity in a short period of time. Urdu, a language spoken in Pakistan, Northern and Southern India, and in some other parts of the world, has become a very effective vehicle for that kind of poetry. The tradition is only a few hundred years old but has acquired wide acceptance, even in those groups of people whose mother tongue is not Urdu.

One such Salam is heard frequently from Radio and TV channels not only in Pakistan but also in the Middle East, in the United States, in England and in Canadian cities. This Salam is known as Salam-e-Akhir or ‘The Last Salute’ and describes the haunting silence of the night of Ashura, known as Shaam-e-Ghareeban (the Night of Poverty). It was composed by an Urdu poet named Syed Aal-e-Raza. Syed Aal-e-Raza was born in 1898, in a village known as Newtani in the district of Unnao, U.P. His father had retired as a Justice of the Avadh Bench of Indian High Courts in 1934. His ancestors had come from Nayshapoor in Iran, back during the time of emperor Humayun of the Mughal Dynasty. They were Rizvi Sadaat from Nayshapoor. Aal-e-Raza had studied at Caning College, Lucknow, and had earned his law degree from Allahabad. He had been practicing law in Lucknow when Pakistan was created. His younger brothers, Syed Kazim Raza and Syed Hashim Raza were very accomplished I.C.S. officers who had been instrumental in the establishment of the public service of Pakistan. He joined them in Pakistan soon after 1947. He died on the 2nd of March 1978 in Karachi.

The most famous piece of poetry that Aal-e-Raza composed was the Salam-e-Akhir. Syed Nasir Jehan, who was a graduate of the Christian College, Lucknow, had joined Radio Pakistan, Karachi in the 1950’s. He was a program producer at Radio Pakistan. In addition, he also had a very good voice. Among the many programs that he produced from Karachi Radio were a number of Muharram recitals of Nawha, dirges and Marsiyyas. He chose to recite the Salam-e-Akhir in his own soft and beautiful voice, and without the help of any instruments. In that process, he immortalized Syed Aal-e-Raza’s Salam-e-Akhir for the listeners of the Urdu mourning poetry. The high point of Salam-e-Akhir is the very simple everyday language used in it, its heart rending idioms which really bring tears to your eyes and the last line which brings out all the pathos, all the tragedy, and the deep desire in the heart of every mourner, where he/she wishes that the mourning might as well have gone on for a few more days – and above all, the wonderment in every mourners heart — is he/she going to survive until the next Muharram to repeat the mourning?

Read, reflect and enjoy.

You can watch the beautiful recitation of Salam-e-Akhir in Urdu by Nasir Jehan, as well as the English translation below.

Salam from the mourners unto those sitting in the desert sand,

Strangers extend their condolences for your dear ones

Salam unto those who are subdued with shame,

The coming storm of imprisonment threatens their uncovered heads

Salam unto him who is pulling on his own chains,

As he dons the mantle of leadership under trial and tribulation

Our salutations and greetings unto our Princess

Upon whom her brother bestowed his responsibilities

In her travels she has found only futility

Sacrificing her sons yet still unable to save her brother

As a prisoner surrounded by Damascene courtiers,

She must preach the message of Husain in Ali’s intonation 

Dear Sakina, we are your humble servants,

Ready to offer our tears if it would quench your thirst

This tender age, this calamity, this fresh pain

Where are you sitting when the tents are burnt?

The distant dawn, this long night

Where are you in this silent, melancholy darkness?

This hot sand, the harsh life of orphanhood,

Where is the bosom upon which you rested your head?

Salams to the mother of the infant martyr,

Strange times are these, what words can console you?

Your heart must still be burning,

Your lap must still be warm,

I cannot find anything in this dark night

I do not know where your shining moon is hidden

Never has a garden so fruitful been destroyed this way,

Your troth and your cradle both rent asunder

There is not one human among the brutes, may Allah protect you

From these wild beasts and your loneliness, may Allah protect you

In Truth, you share the blessings and peace sent on the Prophet

Salam on the looted house of God’s Most Beloved

Salam unto the broken bodies of Islam’s benefactors

Salam unto the martyrs’ bodies left uncovered

Salam on you O the beloved of the Prophet and his daughter

Salam on you O the stars surrounding the martyred Sun

If we survive until next year, then we will be here and so too will this sorrow,

But if we pass away, then please accept this as our Last Salute.

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Excerpt taken from “Understanding Karbala” (2007) by Syed-Mohsin Naquvi