Weeping for Thar Allah Means Awaiting Baqiyyat Allah (3)

Weeping for Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, is not merely weeping over a tragedy; it is weeping over a loneliness that spans history.

When a person weeps over Ashura, they are, in truth, looking not only at the burned tents and bloodied bodies; they are looking at the moment when the rightful Imam stood firm, while many of those who should have been beside him were absent.

Ashura poses a great question:

How can the Imam be among the community and yet be left alone?

And awaiting is a continuation of this very question:

If the Imam were to come today, would he once again be left alone?

It is here that tears shed for Thār Allāh become intertwined with awaiting Baqiyyat Allāh.

Someone who weeps for Husayn, peace be upon him, is in fact confronting a truth: sometimes the distance between “loving the Imam” and “standing by the Imam” is very great.

Many may know the Imam; many may love him; but when it comes to paying the price, a person’s true character is revealed.

Ashura was the scene in which this very truth was revealed.

Husayn, peace be upon him, did not thirst only for water; he thirsted for companions who would recognize the truth and, in the moment of hardship, would not retreat from it.

And this is precisely what awaiting the Imam asks of us.

Awaiting means asking oneself:

If my Imam calls upon me today, what do I have to bring to the field?

My knowledge? My wealth? My standing? My pen? My strength? My time? Or merely a claim of love that has never been translated into action?

If a tear shed for Imam Husayn, peace be upon him, remains only on the cheek, it has not yet reached its destination.

The tear must pass beyond the eye and reach the will.

It must transform the human being.

It must turn the human being from a spectator of history into one who bears responsibility for history.

Weeping that does not lead a person to ask, “What have I done for the Imam of my time?” has not yet grasped the full meaning of Ashura.

Thar Allah is the blood unjustly shed that put history on trial.

And Baqiyyat Allah is the divine Proof who still asks us:

Are you ready this time?

Ashura tells us what the absence of supporters can do.

Awaiting calls on us to learn how to become supporters.

Ashura showed how worldliness, fear, doubt, silence, and delay can leave the Imam alone.

Awaiting means combating these very factors within ourselves.

Those who await do not merely pray for the reappearance; they cultivate themselves in preparation for it.

If they are fearful, they practice courage. If they are ignorant, they acquire knowledge. If they are attached to this world, they free their hearts. If they remain silent in the face of truth, they train their tongues. If they have only emotion, they turn that emotion into action.

It is here that weeping for Husayn, peace be upon him, takes on another meaning.

Every tear can be a pledge:

O Husayn, what befell you must not be repeated for your son.

This may be the deepest meaning of awaiting the Imam.

One who truly awaits the Imam is not someone who merely asks:

Rather, one asks oneself:

If he comes today, am I the kind of person who can stand by his side?

Can I withstand pressure? Will I stand by the truth when it stands alone? Will I remain faithful even when the cost rises?

Ashura drew an answer to this question from many people.

Some arrived too late. Some were afraid. Some remained silent. Some recognized the truth but did not choose it.

Awaiting means not allowing history to draw that same answer from us again.

Thus, weeping for Thar Allah, if genuine, leads a person to Baqiyyat Allah.

For one cannot weep over the loneliness of Husayn, peace be upon him, yet fail to prepare oneself to ensure that his descendant is not left alone.

One cannot shed tears over the oppression suffered by the Imam of yesterday, yet remain indifferent to one’s responsibility toward the Imam of today.

The tears of Ashura, if alive, become a covenant.

The covenant becomes preparedness.

And preparedness leads a person to true awaiting.

Weeping for Thar Allah is not mourning the past; it is practicing faithfulness for the future.

And perhaps the whole meaning of awaiting is summed up in this one sentence:

This time, the Imam must not be left alone.