Babar Ali Anees

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The Burning Plain of Karbala (Excerpt)

How to describe the heat intense of the battle day,
It might set my own tongue, taper-like, ablaze.
Oh, the sun and burning winds! Save us, God, O save!
Flaming red was the earth, the sky was deadly pale.

People yearned and pined for a drop of water cold,
The sky was hurling fire-balls on the earth below.

The burning winds and the sun, dazzling hot and bright,
The day under the ferocious sun blackened like the night!
Even the lips of the stream had gone sere and dry,
The parasols of water-bubbles were smoldering day and night.

Dust-storms swept the field, the fount of life had ebbed,
The water on the river Faraat boiled hot and red.

The animals wouldn’t leave their lairs till the day declined,
The sea too, in the slimy creeks, loved to lie reclined.
The tiger’s skins were burnt black, sluggish grew the hind,
The stones, too, like waxen blocks, seemed to melt and pine.

The grass had lost its green, the flowers hung dismayed,
The water sank down in wells, seeking deeper shade.

Not a plant was there for miles bearing leaf or bloom,
Chinar-like shone the trees, blazoned by the simoom.
Not a single smiling rose, meadows lay in gloom,
Every branch was turned to a thorn, in the scorching noon.

People were despaired of life, so intense was heat,
Like the dropping faces pale, leaves felt bereaved.

With their mouths dipped in water, the beasts stood unmoved,
The birds flapped their wings in vain search of cool refuge;
The pupils, securely curtained, deep inside did ooze,
Lurking behind the eyelash, the glance refused to move.

If perchance the glance could travel, and stand a while in heat,
It would get blistered feet, and beat a quick retreat.

The lions, fearing raging heat, refused to leave their lairs,
The deer hid in meadows, by the heat scared.

Hazily shone the radiant sun smothered by the dusty air,
The fevered earth created shivers in the atmosphere.

Restless felt the world at large, by the heat oppressed,
The sun would roast all at once the grain split on earth.

The flames whirled with all their might, the heat was at its height,
The bubbles glowed like livid coals, water volcano-like.
The waves lolled out their tongues, parched and stark dry,
The crocodiles, though submerged, felt despaired of life.

Water was a sea of fire, it was hot as judgment Day,
The fish would change to roasted meat, if it dared its head to raise.

The shimmering skies didn’t have the strength to bear the heat,
The lightning tried to hide itself in some cloudy creek.
But the fiery tempers were specially hit by heat