Saturday, January 10, 2009

Imam Hussain’s Decision to Leave Madina: The Prophet’s Beloved City



Imam Hussain’s Decision to Leave The Prophet’s Beloved City


Imam, after leaving Madina in the month of Rajab, stayed in Makka for about 5 months. It was in the month of Zilhijja 60 Hijri when he noticed that there were Yazid's soldiers in Makka in the garb of Ahram to kill the Imam inside the Masjidul Haram. Imam changed the rituals of Hajj into Umra and decided to leave Makka. The date was 8th of Zilhijja 60 Hijri. When people saw the Imam leaving before completing the Hajj they began to ask questions as to why he was leaving in such a hurry. Some doubted his motives, saying that he might be leaving Makka for Iraq to confront Yazid and take power into his hands. To quell these doubts he left a letter with his brother Muhammad El-Hanafiya which clearly states his purpose of leaving Makka. He wrote in the letter, "I have not come out to stir emotions, to play with discontentment, to provoke dissension or to spread oppression. I wish to bring the Umma back to the path of Amr-bil-Ma'arouf and Nahyi Unil Munker. I wish to bring them back to the path of my grandfather the Messenger of Allah and of my father Ali Ibne Abi Talib".

The momentous journey of Imam Hussain (AS) begins from Makka towards an unknown destination which eventually ended at Karbala.






The British Museum Library Records Imam Hussain's Journey of Martyrdom



The Journey to Karbala, the City of Martyrs:


The journey which began from Makka on the 8th of Zilhijja 60 Hijri ended in Karbala on 2nd of Muharram 61 Hijiri and took about 22 days in all. Imam stopped at 14 places on his way to Karbala. He met various people and delivered various sermons. What the Imam talked about to these people he met and said in his sermons at various places reflects the true motives he had in his mind. The names of these places Imam passed were mentioned in history books but their exact locations were not traceable in modern geographical maps. After searching in the archives of the
British Museum Library a map of 9th Century Hijri was found in which all these names were clearly shown.





The First and Second Places (or Manzils): Saffah and Dhatul-Irq



There are 14 geographical sites or places or (Manazils as in Arabic) where the Imam was known to have passed during this journey to Karbala which takes no 15.



The First Place (or Manzil): Saffah


The first place (or manzil) was called Saffah. Here the Imam stayed for the night. The next morning when he was preparing to leave for his next Manzil that he met the famous poet Farazdaq who was coming from Iraq and was going to Makka for pilgrimage. When he learnt that Imam was proceeding for Iraq he tried to persuade him not to go there. Imam asked Farazdaq about the conditions in Kufa and the poet replied," Peoples hearts are with you but their swords are against you." Imam told him, "Allah does what he wishes, I leave it to Him who proposes the just cause". Farazdaq left the place for Makka and Imam's caravan proceeded towards its next Manzil.


The 2nd Place (or Manzil): Dhatul-Irq


The 2nd Manzil was Dhatul-Irq. Here the Imam stayed the night. Here he met Abdullah Ibn Jaafar who was Imam's cousin and husband of his sister Zainab. Abdullah brought his two sons Aun and Muhammad to accompany the Imam. Abdullah also tried to persuade the Imam to postpone his journey and return to Madina. But Imam replied," my destiny is in the hands of Allah" These words which mention his destiny were repeated at many places during this journey and clearly indicate that he had a mission in his mind and he was proceeding towards that mission without fail.




Regions Passed By: Saffah (1), Dhatul-Irq (2)

There are 14 geographical sites or places or (Manazils as in Arabic) where the Imam was known to have passed during this journey to Karbala which takes no 15.


The First Place (or Manzil): Saffah


The first place (or manzil) was called Saffah. Here the Imam stayed for the night. The next morning when he was preparing to leave for his next Manzil that he met the famous poet Farazdaq who was coming from Iraq and was going to Makka for pilgrimage. When he learnt that Imam was proceeding for Iraq he tried to persuade him not to go there. Imam asked Farazdaq about the conditions in Kufa and the poet replied," Peoples hearts are with you but their swords are against you." Imam told him, "Allah does what he wishes, I leave it to Him who proposes the just cause". Farazdaq left the place for Makka and Imam's caravan proceeded towards its next Manzil.


The 2nd Place (or Manzil): Dhatul-Irq



The 2nd Manzil was Dhatul-Irq. Here the Imam stayed the night. Here he met Abdullah Ibn Jaafar who was Imam's cousin and husband of his sister Zainab. Abdullah brought his two sons Aun and Muhammad to accompany the Imam. Abdullah also tried to persuade the Imam to postpone his journey and return to Madina. But Imam replied," my destiny is in the hands of Allah" These words which mention his destiny were repeated at many places during this journey and clearly indicate that he had a mission in his mind and he was proceeding towards that mission without fail.

The 3rd Place (or Manzil): Batn-ur-Rumma



The 3rd Place (or Manzil): Batn-ur-Rumma


The 3rd Place (or Manzil) in the Imam's journey was the small town called Batn-ur-Rumma. From here the Imam sent a letter to one of his friends in Kufa asking about the situation there. Qais Ibn Mushahir took the letter for the Imam. He also met Abdullah Ibn Mutee who was also coming from the troubled land of Iraq. He also tried to persuade the Imam not to proceed any further. He said that Kufans were not faithful to anyone -" Al Kufi La Yufi "- they could not be trusted. But Imam continued with his fateful journey with the same words that his destiny is in the hands of Allah.



The 4th Place (or Manzil): Zurud




The 4th Place (or Manzil): Zurud


The 4th Place (or Manzil) of Imam's journey took him to Zurud. This was a small town just over the hills of Hejaz separating from the province of Najd. From here the mountains change into arid desert. At this place Imam met Zohair Ibne Qain. Zohair, until that time, was not the follower of Ahlul-bayt. He was undecided and considered himself as a person in middle, not able to decide which side was the right one. Imam saw Zohair's tent pitched in the distant and sent his emissary with a note. Zohair read the note, realized for the first time in his life that time for decision to choose the right path has arrived. Something happened to him inside that has changed his entire life. What was written in the note is not clear, but Zohair told his friends to take his wife and children back to his tribal lands, and he himself set out to join the Imam and his caravan.

Here it is important to mention that when the Imam was leaving Makka he was trying to persuade the hoards of people who wanted to come out with him, to go back to their homes. Imam was telling them that there is no reward of worldly goods at the end of the journey. But at the same time he wrote letters to some people inviting them to accompany him to the end of his journey. One of them was Zohair as mentioned above. Imam wrote another letter to his childhood friend Habib Ibn Mazahir Al-Assady in Kufa inviting to join him in his journey of destiny. Habib was an old companion of the Prophet. Some historians mention Habib's age as 82 years.

Another important point worth mentioning here is that these additional people invited by the Imam were each from different tribes of Arabia. Out of total number of 72 male warriors with the Imam, 18 were from his own family, all descendents of Abu Talib. But rest of the martyrs was from all places and all creeds, almost from all Islamic lands of that time. There were men from Sham (Syria), from Jaba el Amil (Lebanon), from Armenia, from Azerbaijan, from Yemen, Abyssinia and Egypt. It appears that Imam was taking special care that whoever is martyred with him on the Day of Ashura comes from different tribes and different lands, different culture and creed so that the message reaches all corners of the Islamic lands through their relatives and friends.




The 5th Place (or Manzil): Zabala



The 5th Place (or Manzil): Zabala


The 5th Place (or Manzil) of Imam's journey was a small town called Zabala. Here the Imam learnt from two tribesmen coming from Kufa, about the death of Muslim Ibn Aqeel. Imam uttered the words, "Inna Lil-Lahe wa Inna Illay-he Rajeoon", loudly that all around him hear these words and know that something momentous has happened. When all his companions gathered around him he said, "Indallah Nahtasib Unfosana", which means that "before God we all are accountable to our actions and deeds". Assady Tribesmen tried to dissuade the Imam from proceeding any further, but to no avail. He told his companions of the death of his cousin Muslim. In a very touching way he told Muslim's 4 year daughter of the death of his father. He called her, put her on his lap and gave her a pair of ear rings to put on. She asked why? Then she replied herself, it looks like that her father has died and that she is an orphan now. Imam hugged her, consoled her and told her that he will look after her in place of her father. There was a commotion inside the ladies camp as they all realized that Kufa cannot be their destiny any longer. They also learnt that with Hazrat Muslim, his two small children and his friend Hani were also killed along with many friends of Ahlulbayt. Hoards of tribesmen who were still with the Imam's party left him as they all realized for sure that there was not going to be a war for victory over Yazid but the purpose was something else. By this 5th stage only about 50 people were left with the Imam and many of them were women and children.





Places Passed By: Batn-e-Aqiq (6), Sorat (7), Sharaf (8)




The 6th Place (or Manzil): Batn-e-Aqiq


Imam left Zabala and arrived at Batn-e-Aqiq at his 6th Manzil. Here the Imam met a man from the Tribe of Akrama who told him that Kufa was not a friendly town, that Yazid's army has surrounded this garrison town, no one was allowed to leave or enter the town. But Imam carried on toward his destiny.


The 7th Place (or Manzil): Sorat.


The 7th Manzil was Sorat. Imam stayed the night here and in the morning after Fajr prayer he asked his companions to store as much as water as possible in all possible containers and sheep skins they had. The Wells were underground, and the Imam's companions filled all possible containers, jars, sheepskins with water.



The 8th Place (or Manzil): Sharaf.


The next day they arrived at a place called Sharaf. While the Imam was passing from this valley that one of his companions called out that he could see the approach of any army through the dust storm. Imam asked for a safe place, preferably a hill at their back. A guide took them near a hill where Imam asked everyone to dismount while kept the hill at their back.





The 9th Place (or Manzil): Zuhasm





The 9th Place (or Manzil): Zuhasm


The name of the place was Zuhasm. It was here that Imam met Hur's army of 1000 men. They were coming from Kufa and appeared to be without water for sometime. Imam asked his companions to give them water in spite of the fact that they were hostile to Imam's party. Everyone drank to their fill, even horses and camels drank. One soldier was so thirsty that he was unable to drink the water himself and the Imam went to him and poured water in his mouth. Hur who was the leader of that brigade from Kufa came to the Imam and wanted to get hold of the reins of his horse to which Imam replied not to be impertinent. Hur then refrained from doing that, but told the Imam he will take him to Kufa under escort to which Imam did not agree. While they were discussing these matters that the time for the Zohr arrived and all of them, friends and enemy alike stood behind the Imam to complete their prayers. After the prayers Imam told Hur and his soldiers that he had received many letters from Kufa inviting him to go there as an Imam and guide in all matters religious or secular. The actual words of Imam's Khutba as mentioned by Tabari are as follows.

"O' people of Kufa, you sent me delegations and wrote me letters that you had no Imam and that I should come to unite you and lead you in the way of God. You replied that we Ahlulbayt are more qualified to govern your affairs than those who claim things to which they had no rights and act unjustly., But if you have changed your mind, have become ignorant of our Rights and have forgotten your promises, than I shall turn back".

But the Imam and his companions were denied by Hur's soldiers to turn back. Imam did not wish to go to Kufa now, and Hur's army did not want them to return to Madina. So a compromise was reached by both parties to bye-pass Kufa and turn towards north. Imam and his party was leading and the Hur's army was behind them. In two days journey they arrived at a place called Baiza.




The 10th Place (or Manzil): Baiza



The 10th Place (or Manzil): Baiza


Baiza was the 10th Manzil. At Baiza Imam delivered his most memorable sermon. History recorded this sermon fully. The words of this sermon clearly indicate the very purpose of the Imam for leaving Makka and his reasons of opposing the oath of allegiance to Yazid. He said,

O' People, The Prophet of Islam has said that if a believer sees a tyrannical ruler transgressing against Allah and his Messenger and oppressing people, but does nothing by word or action to change the situation, then it will be just for God to place him where he deservingly belongs. Do you not see to what low level the affairs have come to, do you not observe that truth has not adhered and falsehood has no limits. And as for me, I look upon death but a means of attaining martyrdom. I consider life among the transgressors an agony and an affliction".

This Khutba (i.e, speech) delivered by the Imam at Baiza is a landmark in history. This was 60 Hijri, about 681 AD. Twelve hundred years later in Gettysburg Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech in which he said, "To suffer in silence while they should protest makes cowards of men". These words of Lincoln reflect exactly what Imam said some over 1200 years ago that oppressors and transgressors from the true path of justice will emerge all the time. If there remains no one on earth to object over their transgressions that they will go unchecked. One should always point out to these tyrants of the Right path of justice. This is the lesson we should all learn from Imam Hussain (AS).



The 11th Place (or Manzil): Uzaibul Hajanat



The 11th Place (or Manzil): Uzaibul Hajanat


The next Manzil was Uzaibul Hajanat. Here Imam stayed away from the escorting army of Hur. He met Trimmah bin Adi. After having known about the Kufan abandonment of his envoy Muslim, it became clear that Imam had no hope of support or even survival in Kufa. Nevertheless, he refused an offer of safety extended to him by Trimmah bin Adi. Ibn Adi was the leader of a powerful Tribe of Adi in the area. He pleaded the Imam to accept his offer of 20,000 armed soldiers from his Tribe to help him if he wishes to go to Kufa to fight with the army of Yazid. Adi even offered the Imam and his small entourage to a hideout in the Tribal hills away from Kufa. But Imam rejected all such offers of safety and indulgence in war. Imam replied to Ibn Adi, "Allah will bless you and your people for your good intentions. I cannot go from my word. Things are destined". It is clear from this reply that the Imam was fully aware of the impending dangers he and his family and friends would face if he continues with his journey without any help from outside forces. He had a certain strategy and plan in his mind to bring about a revolution in the conscience of the Muslim Ummah. He did not mobilize military support which he could easily have mustered in Hejaz, nor did he try to exploit whatever physical strength was available to him. On the other hand he was discouraging any such suggestions of an army to fight physically.




The 12th Place (or Manzil): Qasre-Bani Maqatil.



The 12th Place (or Manzil): Qasre-Bani Maqatil.

Imam's twelfth Manzil was Qasre-Bani Maqatil. It was evident here that Kufa was no more his destination. As Hur did not want him to leave for anywhere else, a compromise was reached and they bye passed Kufa and took a new route. Resting in the heat of the afternoon, Imam uttered a sentence which is said in circumstances when someone hears of death. His elder son Ali Akber came forward and enquired about this sentence. Imam replied that while he was half a sleep he saw in his dream that some one was shouting loudly that this caravan was destined towards death. Ali Akber asked, are we not on the Right Path. An unusual question so it seems. But when the Imam replied that they were indeed on the Right Path, his son's reply was again typical of this family of the Prophet. “Father, when we are on the Right Path, we have no worries whether death takes us or we fall upon death". The young son of the Imam was satisfied as long as their Paths were Right. They were fully aware that death of this kind transforms into the glory of martyrdom.




The 13th Place (or Manzil): Nainawah





The 13th Place (or Manzil): Nainawah


Their Thirteenth Manzil was Nainawah. At this place a messenger from Ibn Ziad the Governor of Kufa came to meet the army of Hur and told them not to leave the Imam and his party under any circumstances.



The 14th Place (or Manzil): Ghathiriyah

The 14th Place (or Manzil): Ghathiriyah


The battered Caravan passed through Ghathiriyah and arrived at a place by the river Banks of the Euphrates.



The 15th Place (or Manzil): Karbala

The 15th Place (or Manzil): Karbala


Imam asked about the name of this place and he was told the name "KARBALA". Imam replied, this is the place of Karb-wo-bala, i.e. the place of torture and pain. Let us stop here, Imam ordered to dismount. "We have reached our destination". Tents were pitched near the River Bank. The date was 2nd of Muharram 61 Hijiri (3rd October 681 AD).




Muslim Ibn Aqeel, Hussain's Messenger to The People Of Kufa Is Beheaded and Thrown from Ibn Zeyad'sPalace Tower








From the 2nd - 8th Days of Muharram 60 Hijiri

The 2nd of Muharram 61 Hijiri:


          Hur's soldiers surrounded the Imam's camp. But no one knew what was going to happen until two days later on the 4th of Muharram that another contingent of 4000 men arrived from Kufa



The 3rd of Muharram 61 Hijiri - The Arrival of Hussain’ Murderer: Shimr

          The next day Shimr arrived with another 10,000 men to fight an army of about 40 people, among them were men of over 80 and children of 13 and 11 and even a 6 month old baby, the youngest son of the Imam who was only a month old when Imam left Madina in the Month of Rajab 5 months ago. Shimr ordered the Imam and his entourage to leave the River Bank and pitch their tents away from it. Imam's brother Abbas and others refused, but Imam told them to move the tents. The tents were moved about 200 yards away from the River Bank and the river was immediately occupied by the soldiers of Yazid newly arrived from Kufa.



The 7th of Muharram 61 Hijiri

           All water supplies were stopped for the Imam's party and soon the cry of thirst heard from the children in the camp.



The 8th of Muharram 61 Hijiri

              Whatever water they would have stored was finished within a day and by the 8th there was no water left in the camp. In the scorching heat of the desert even a few hours without water was impossible yet for three days these people were without water.




The 9th of Muharram 61 Hijiri

The 9th of Muharram 61 Hijiri

           On the afternoon of the 9th, Yazid's army moved forward in a formation of attack. Imam was informed and he sent Abbas and Ali Akber to enquire about this. The reply was that orders were from Kufa to commence fighting and finish off with the family of the Prophet. Imam asked them to give them a stay of one night for they all wished to spend their last night in meditation and prayers to God.

Prayers Vs Flirting

               The night was dark and horrible, flickering lights from the Camp of the Imam was showing few people busy in prayers. The sound of their prayers in unison was coming out of the camp as if Honey bees were busy to build their nest. Whereas on the enemy side music and dancing had gone on all night. Many soldiers from Yazid's army saw this difference and realized in awe who was on the path of God and who was not. Some soldiers slipped away from Yazid's camp towards the Imam's camp knowing fully well that if fighting started the next morning they would surely perish. About 30 such people moved to Imam's camp. Imam held a meeting of his battered and thirsty companions and told them that the enemy wanted only his life. They have no animosity with any one else. When no one moved Imam asked that the candles should be put off, in case some of them were ashamed to show themselves running away from the Imam. The Imam also said that he was taking away the burden of the Oath of allegiance from them and made them free to go. "Take few of my relations with them" But when the candles were lit again, all were there, no one moved. One of the older companions named Muslim Ibn Awsajah came forward and declared that they were all one solid rock to fight for the Imam. If they were killed 70 times and then were made alive again they would still prefer to achieve martyrdom with the Imam rather than live with the oppressive rulers like Yazid.





The 10th of Muharram 61 Hijiri - Dawn and Morning

The 10th of Muharram 61 Hijiri


Morning appeared and before Sunrise Ali Akber gave the Azan and all of them completed their morning prayers behind their Imam.



The 10th of Muharram, Early Morning


Imam made his brother Abbas as the flag bearer of the tiny army of 70 persons in all when all of a sudden two more soldiers defected from Yazid's army. One was Hur who was the leader of the contingent who brought the Imam's party to Karbala and also his son. Both of them arrived with their hands tied to apologize to the Imam for what they had done and asked his permission to fight for them and become first martyrs.

The Beginning of the Battle


Imam Hussain did not give orders to commence fighting until arrows came from the enemy camp. Then Hur went out to fight. Overwhelmed by the numbers on the other side, he soon died. His son went and he also died.



Abbas, Imam Hussain Brother Has Reached the River But Didn't Drink


The 10th of Muharram 61 Hijiri, Noon

The 10th of Muharram 61 Hijiri, Noon

              Then one by one each companion of the Imam went and died until Zohr time when Saeed Ibn Abullah al Bijilly came forward and informed the Imam that it was prayer time for Zohr. Battle was raging, arrows were coming towards the Imam's camp, how could they have formed lines for prayers. But they stood in single foil to perform their last prayers while two companions of the Imam Saeed and Zohair stood in front of this line to hold back all the arrows that were coming towards them. Once the Imam finished the last words of the prayers these two soldiers died of exhaustion. The Last of the companions of the Imam died and only the relatives remained. First to go was Imam's son Ali Akber who fought bravely but thirst for three days was the most important factor in the fall of these martyrs. He was also killed and then Imam's nephew Qasim went and was killed. Then four of his brothers, Osman, Jafar, Abullah and Abbas were killed. Imam then brought his 6 month old son Ali Asgher. He brought him in his arms under the shade of his cloak. He told the audience, "This baby has not done any harm to you. He is thirsty, give him some water." The Commander of Yazid's army ordered Hurmula who was the best marksman to kill the baby. Hurmulah pulled the bow and the arrow killed the baby instantly. Imam brought the baby near the camp, informed his mother of the martyrdom of the baby. He then buried the baby in the sand. Afterwards Imam himself went for battle. But before that he introduced himself again that he was the grand son of the Prophet in case anyone had any doubts about him and that his guilt was only to refuse to accept the Oath of allegiance of the Tyrannical ruler Yazid.

Beheading Imam Hussain

                The enemy was thirsty for the blood of the Imam, they were blind in their eagerness to kill the last of the family of the Prophet. They fell upon his injured and tired body like blood hounds and soon the Imam was also killed. The battle ended in one day. The orders were given to behead Imam Hussain, his male members and companions who fell martyrs in battle. Their heads were wedged into arrows and then carried aloft. These heads of Muslim martyrs, considered as war atrophies, moved on a long exhausting journey, amidst hot sun and arid desert and misery and suffering of every sort, from Karbala via Tikrit, Mosul and Aleppo to Damascus to which the Family of Imam Hussain ( Imam Ali Zain-aAbideen, sister, daughters and kins, all are regarded as Ahlu Bait Al-Nibuwa) were carried as slaves to meet the despot Yazid who, ironically enough, rendered himself and is so rendered nowadays as Muslim Caliphate despite all the crimes committed and genocide of the sacred family of Prophet Mohamad!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The slaves then were ordered to go back to Madina. On their way, they visited the graves of the dead men in Karbala, now buried.

The 10th of Muharram 61 Hijiri, Night

                  The evening of the 10th was the darkest for the women and children of the family of the Prophet. Camps were set alight and burnt, their possessions were looted. It was late at night while they were huddled together waiting for further tortures from the enemy side, that they saw the wife of Hur coming towards them with food and water. They were hungry and thirsty but none of them was keen to take anything, not even the youngest of the children. Imam Hussain's youngest daughter Sakina took the tumbler of water and ran towards the open field. Her aunt Zainab asked where was she running to and she replied, her little brother Ali Asgher was thirsty, she was taking some water for him, not knowing that little Ali Asgher was already dead, being the victim of Hurmula's arrow.

Imam Hussain Says Valediction to His Family.Now He Is On His To Martyrdom


Imam Hussain Bleeding Too Much Sits to Hold His Breathes. His Infant is Killed Also.


The Horse Is Back to the Camp Without Hussain. The Women Are Shocked.


Imam Hussain's Body Beheaded and Left on Arid Desert of Karbala Where He Fell


The 11th of Muharram 61 Hijiri, Morning

The 11th of Muharram 61 Hijiri, Morning


Night passed and the morning came with more pain and grief when they saw that the bodies of the enemy were buried but the grand son of the Prophet with all his sons and brothers and companions lie unburied on the desert sand. The Women and children were taken prisoners with the ailing son of Imam, the 22 year old Ali, leading this battered caravan towards Kufa as the Imam of the family. He was now the 4th Imam.

The Bodies of these Martyrs were buried on 13th day of Muharram 61 Hijiri by tribesmen of Bani Assad, guided by the fourth Imam who was with them miraculously while in prison in Kufa.

None Survived The Genocide But Hussain's Female Family Members. Women Are Mourning Their Men Who Are Beheaded Now

Yazid's Brutal Troops at Karbala Burning Imam Hussain's Camp. Everything Is Sacked and Looted

Imam Hussain's Family and Kins Dragged as Slaves in Yazid's Royal Court

The Chained Prisoners: Zainab and Hussain's Family and Kins Now Back to Karbala

Friday, January 9, 2009

Gaza Is Dying With A Little of Patience

The Etymology of 'Macon' and ‘Cacon’ in Waiting For Godot

The Etymology of 'Macon' and ‘Cacon’ in Waiting For Godot


               Beckett, in his Waiting for Godot, employs two strange terms – the “the Macon Country and the Cacon Country”. These terms are, of course, fictional regions. The question is: Have they got any sense? If so, why does Beckett use them here? Have they got any relation to Prophet Mohammad (PBUM)?
Below is my point of view. I tend to the etymology of the two terms in order to understand their sense. 'Macon' is a Middle English form etymologically derived from two sources; the first one is a variation among more than 50 others of the name of the Prophet Mohammad.


               There are other variations of the Prophet's name such as ' Mahound, Mahum, Mahun, Mahoune,. Mahown,.Macon, Mahount, Mahownde, Machound, Manhound, Maumet, .Mahom, .Mahum, Mahu, Maho '.etc. See also the entry for "Mahu" and "Maho". (See the enteries of "Mahound"and "Mahu" in The Oxford English Dictionary, 1970 Repr.VI.)


                 All these .variations of the Prophet's name, according to the Medieval populace and writers as well, stand for the meanings of 'the devil', 'the infidel', 'the idol' or 'the dictator of Hell'. 'Macon', for example, was used by Harrington in 1591 and by Faifax in his Tasso in 1600.


                 To Beckett, 'Macon' in Waiting carries the nuances of the two etymological sources. 'Macon' alludes to the USSR since for the 'Christian' West the 'Soviets' at a time were the most abhorred materialist Infidels of Europe who dominated the Eastern part of the Continent where 'horror and disbelief' spring from a "decayed Unreal "City ... over the mountains", to quote Eliot, the poet of The Waste Land (1922) who, "being hypocrite .. .mon semblable, avoids mentioning, among a list of other unreal cities as he enumerates Jerusalem Athens Alexandaria / Vienna, London', the name of the City which 'is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality'. The name of the decayed Unreal City that is meant is Moscow. In his essay Thoughts After Lambeth (1931), Eliot concludes that ' the experiment (i.e., the October Revolution) will fail' ". So, as Eliot many years ago indirectly disparaged in his poem this experiment, Beckett in W F G throws at the same experiment some vitriolic remarks, and, the study has so far shown only two – the first is "the knook", the second " the Macon Country". Still there are other ones and to spot light on them lies out of the scope of this study the aim of which is not to set a political reading of the play since such a reading dictates a certain approach to deal with the text. Martin Esslin, as setting the historical background for the Absurd movement in drama, though he does not recommend a political interpretation of any sort of the play, writes that "there is no doubt that a sense of disillusionment with the hopes of radical social revolution as predicted by Marx after Stalin had turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian tyranny ... is but one characteristic feature of our own times ..[and] of the plays that we have classed under the label of me Theatre of the Absurd". And I Beckett may have been aware of this feature.

                The second term “Cacon” was derived from an Italian word for 'machine'. There are other variations for the etymology of this word such as 'Machun, Machoun, Masun, Mazoun, Macon, Masowne, Machio, Machina' etc . (See "Mason," in The Oxford English Dictionary, 1970Repr. VI.)

                 The 'Cacon' Country, in the Play, alludes to the disgusting and contemptuous image of the West itself after relapse into barbarism, mass murder and genocide ... during the Second World War and in the aftermath of that War" and the spread, among sensitive minds, of such a belief that their Western World "of the mid twentieth century has lost its meaning and has simply ceased to make sense". The West, hence, becomes represented in the play as the 'Cacon' Country.

               Moreover, the word 'Cacon' is "a pun on the French child's word for excrement 'cach'". While in the 'Macon' Country Big Brothers, as Vladimir and Estragon narrated, controlled the whole scene with firm grips and iron heels; in the 'Cacon', Vladimir and Estragon would see a similar image of despotism - a multi-master world; Vladimir and Estragon would meet masters like those hostile "others", the invisible "Godot" and the cruel Pozzo. Vladimir and Estragon who were two dissidents or ' non - conformists', fled from one bloody vassalage to another more horrible in the new stash - the Free World itself! And both the phases of their vassalage (paradoxically contradicted with each other and intermingled with horror and death) are invisible to the external observer!

               As such, Beckett's Waiting comes to mockingly vituperate, in one stroke, both the Free World and the Eastern Block; the play, in this case, neither pays lip service to the West nor regards it animated and dynamic and free of horrors as Gunther Andres wishfully thought, when he wrote in a 1954 article "Being Without Time: On Beckett's Play Waiting for Godot", under, of course, the obsessions of the Cold War between the then two big powers, that Pozzo and Lucky are:

              “the motor of time: for time is history; and history in the eyes of dialectical philosophy, owes its movement exclusively to antagonism (between man and manor class and class); so exclusively that at the moment when these antagonisms came to an end, history itself would cease, too”.

              Gunther Andres considered “Pozzo and Lucky as the Hegelian symbol of history steps onto the stage.... on which, so far, nothing had reigned but 'being without time'.... It is quite understandable that the entrance of this new pair intrigues the spectator. First for aesthetic reason: the stagnation which, at the beginning, he had rejected as hardly acceptable, but finally accepted as the 'law of the Godot world', is suddenly disturbed by the intrusion of characters that are undeniably active. It is as though before our very eyes a still photo turned into a movie”.

               But 'the law of the Godot world' under the hold of which Vladimir and Estragon came after their flight from the 'Macon' Country, is only one, among other corpuses juris that govern all regions of the Free World! They in their new habitat witnessed once again ages of incessant anxiety and blood-cuddling awe and exhaustive illusion. They were deceived by the recurrent message that "Godot will not come today but surely he will come tomorrow". It is due to this deception that whenever they saw a new comer, they were moved and put to alert thinking their 'saviour-bogle' has arrived: their passions, startled, would come to spontaneous ascendancy.

For Full Reading of the This Study, Press The Invisible Vassalage




Samuel Beckett and Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)

         Beckett, in his Waiting for Godot, employs two strange terms – the “the Macon Country and the Cacon Country”. These terms are, of course, fictional regions. The question is: Have they got any sense? If so, why does Beckett use them here? Have they got any relation to Prophet Mohammad (PBUM)?

        Below is my point of view. I tend to the etymology of the two terms in order to understand their sense. 'Macon' is a Middle English form etymologically derived from two sources; the first one is a variation among more than 50 others of the name of the Prophet Mohammad.


       There are other variations of the Prophet's name such as ' Mahound, Mahum, Mahun, Mahoune,. Mahown,.Macon, Mahount, Mahownde, Machound, Manhound, Maumet, .Mahom, .Mahum, Mahu, Maho '.etc. See also the entry for "Mahu" and "Maho". (See the enteries of "Mahound"and "Mahu" in The Oxford English Dictionary, 1970 Repr.VI.)


        All these .variations of the Prophet's name, according to the Medieval populace and writers as well, stand for the meanings of 'the devil', 'the infidel', 'the idol' or 'the dictator of Hell'. 'Macon', for example, was used by Harrington in 1591 and by Faifax in his Tasso in 1600.


           To Beckett, 'Macon' in Waiting carries the nuances of the two etymological sources. 'Macon' alludes to the USSR since for the 'Christian' West the 'Soviets' at a time were the most abhorred materialist Infidels of Europe who dominated the Eastern part of the Continent where 'horror and disbelief' spring from a "decayed Unreal "City ... over the mountains", to quote Eliot, the poet of The Waste Land (1922) who, "being hypocrite .. .mon semblable, avoids mentioning, among a list of other unreal cities as he enumerates Jerusalem Athens Alexandaria / Vienna, London', the name of the City which 'is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality'. The name of the decayed Unreal City that is meant is Moscow. In his essay Thoughts After Lambeth (1931), Eliot concludes that ' the experiment (i.e., the October Revolution) will fail' ". So, as Eliot many years ago indirectly disparaged in his poem this experiment, Beckett in W F G throws at the same experiment some vitriolic remarks, and, the study has so far shown only two – the first is "the knook", the second " the Macon Country". Still there are other ones and to spot light on them lies out of the scope of this study the aim of which is not to set a political reading of the play since such a reading dictates a certain approach to deal with the text. Martin Esslin, as setting the historical background for the Absurd movement in drama, though he does not recommend a political interpretation of any sort of the play, writes that "there is no doubt that a sense of disillusionment with the hopes of radical social revolution as predicted by Marx after Stalin had turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian tyranny ... is but one characteristic feature of our own times ..[and] of the plays that we have classed under the label of me Theatre of the Absurd". And I Beckett may have been aware of this feature.

          The second term “Cacon” was derived from an Italian word for 'machine'. There are other variations for the etymology of this word such as 'Machun, Machoun, Masun, Mazoun, Macon, Masowne, Machio, Machina' etc . (See "Mason," in The Oxford English Dictionary, 1970Repr. VI.)

           The 'Cacon' Country, in the Play, alludes to the disgusting and contemptuous image of the West itself after relapse into barbarism, mass murder and genocide ... during the Second World War and in the aftermath of that War" and the spread, among sensitive minds, of such a belief that their Western World "of the mid twentieth century has lost its meaning and has simply ceased to make sense". The West, hence, becomes represented in the play as the 'Cacon' Country.

               Moreover, the word 'Cacon' is "a pun on the French child's word for excrement 'cach'". While in the 'Macon' Country Big Brothers, as Vladimir and Estragon narrated, controlled the whole scene with firm grips and iron heels; in the 'Cacon', Vladimir and Estragon would see a similar image of despotism - a multi-master world; Vladimir and Estragon would meet masters like those hostile "others", the invisible "Godot" and the cruel Pozzo. Vladimir and Estragon who were two dissidents or ' non - conformists', fled from one bloody vassalage to another more horrible in the new stash - the Free World itself! And both the phases of their vassalage (paradoxically contradicted with each other and intermingled with horror and death) are invisible to the external observer!

            As such, Beckett's Waiting comes to mockingly vituperate, in one stroke, both the Free World and the Eastern Block; the play, in this case, neither pays lip service to the West nor regards it animated and dynamic and free of horrors as Gunther Andres wishfully thought, when he wrote in a 1954 article "Being Without Time: On Beckett's Play Waiting for Godot", under, of course, the obsessions of the Cold War between the then two big powers, that Pozzo and Lucky are:

“the motor of time: for time is history; and history in the eyes of dialectical philosophy, owes its movement exclusively to antagonism (between man and manor class and class); so exclusively that at the moment when these antagonisms came to an end, history itself would cease, too”.

            Gunther Andres considered “Pozzo and Lucky as the Hegelian symbol of history steps onto the stage.... on which, so far, nothing had reigned but 'being without time'.... It is quite understandable that the entrance of this new pair intrigues the spectator. First for aesthetic reason: the stagnation which, at the beginning, he had rejected as hardly acceptable, but finally accepted as the 'law of the Godot world', is suddenly disturbed by the intrusion of characters that are undeniably active. It is as though before our very eyes a still photo turned into a movie”.

            But 'the law of the Godot world' under the hold of which Vladimir and Estragon came after their flight from the 'Macon' Country, is only one, among other corpuses juris that govern all regions of the Free World! They in their new habitat witnessed once again ages of incessant anxiety and blood-cuddling awe and exhaustive illusion. They were deceived by the recurrent message that "Godot will not come today but surely he will come tomorrow". It is due to this deception that whenever they saw a new comer, they were moved and put to alert thinking their 'saviour-bogle' has arrived: their passions, startled, would come to spontaneous ascendancy.

For Full Reading of the This Study, Press The Invisible Vassalage

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Kuwaitian Poetess Muna Kareem - Life Tragedy

Life Tragedy

By Muna Kareem/ Kuwait


Translated by
Abdul-Settar Abdul-Latif/ Iraq


"Only Truth is revolutionary",
Gramci
1. Truth is easy:
Then go search inside yourself,
You'll find a divine animal loving philosophy!

2. The Woman of this age
Does the act of nausea
On a man's moustache

3. Day after day
The hangman pours more zeroes
In front of the numbers of the dead and the poor

4. Cancer hugs the collar of the stage
And Flu eschews the incongruity of the truth
That woman alone ambitions for!

5. Our rebellion ideas
Turned to be pulled up
Even at the dentist's.

6. ….

7. ….

8. Sin
Repents
Goes in recluse
Becomes virgins
Then be as among the flock:
A woman.

9. The ancient sun cleans our shadow
By a fig leaf having sacks of faintness!



تراجيديا الحياة
للشاعرة منى كريم / الـكـويـت
الترجمة للانكليزية أ.عبد ا لستار عبد اللطيف
"ان الحقيقة وحدها ثورية"
غرامشي
1. الحقيقة سهلة:
ابحث في نفسك ,
تجد حيوانا ألهيا يعشق الفلسفة.

2. المرأة في هذا الزمن
تمارس فعل الغثيان
على شاربي الرجل
3. يوميا
يصب الجلاد المزيد من الاصفار
امام اعداد الموتى و الفقراء

4.السرطان يعانق المسرح
و الزكام يتحاشى نشاز الحقيقة
التي تنشدها المرأة وحدها

5. افكارنا التمردية
باتت تستأصل
حتى عند طبيب الاسنان

6. ....

7. ...

8. الخطيئة
تتوب
تعتزل
تصبح عذراء
ثم تكون كباقي القطيع:
_ امرأة _

9. الشمس العتيقة تغسل ظـلـنـــــا
بورقـة تـوت لها أكياس من الشحوب