When al-Reza (A.S.) died, poets composed eulogies and mourned for him the hope that entertained the conscience of the nation that one day he would be the caliph so that equity might restore its shining light after being put out by the caliphs who employed cheating and deception as their methods to mislead and confuse the nation. When they set the limits of conduct for others, they themselves at the same time trampled upon them by committing every act prohibited by God in His Book and by His Prophet (S.A.W.) far from the eyes of the people and maybe even in public.
Among those who eulogized him was Da"bal ibn Ali al-Khuza"i, the renown poet of the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) and their advocate. He composed many eulogies about Imam al-Rida (A.S.).
Eulogies By famous Poet
Da"bal ibn Ali al-Khuza"i Eulogy for Imam Reza(A.S)
Amr al-Salami Eulogy
Da"bal al-Khuza"i Eulogy After Death of Imam al-Rida (A.S.)
Ali ibn Abu Abdullah al-Khawwafi Eulogy
Abu Firas al-Hamadani Eulogy
Da"bal ibn Ali al-Khuza"i Eulogy for Imam Reza(A.S)
"Ali ibn Sulayman al-Akhfash recited verses for me by Da"bal ibn Ali al-Khuza"i in which he mentioned al-Rida (A.S.) and the poison he was given and mourning one of his sons and chastising the Abbaside caliphs:
Unwillingly did you part with Ahmed, and the earth
Engulfed a building, sublime and dignified,
You housed him in a place mean in wares
And I against my wish compromised,
A fugitive just for loving him...
Had I not been consoled by the Prophet
And by his near in kin, I would have
Poured my tears for him abundantly;
I loved myself, but I loved even more
The family of Muhammad whose love resides
In my heart, living with me, being in me.
The Prophet"s legacy availed them naught,
For Death in it with them has a share,
And a share for the hope for death...
Hunted and pursued for many a year
By foxes from Umayya, time and again.
Banu Abbas played havoc with the creed,
Reaping oppression, miserliness and greed.
Named `Rashid" who was never to wisdom keen,
Named this `Mamoon" and named that `Amin"!
Never did I accept them to be for
Wisdom a name, but for guidance a shame.
Nor to their trusts were they ever true,
Their `Rashid" is misguided and his sons
One with sins more than the other"s impudence.
O grave in the foreign land of Toos!
Mourned are you by caravans shunning daylight...
I am in doubt... Should I offer a drink
Of water to one, so I remember you and cry?
Or is in the cup my remedy so I die?
Either I meant, when I say a drink,
If it is death, then let it be swift.
How marvelous they call you Pleased!
For they never made your life eased.
Is it odd when rogues distort the light
Of God"s Creed, though it is bright?
Your favors miracles made for them and me,
But who is among them that can ever see?"
Thus does Da"bal expose in these verses the memories of horrible tragedies to which Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) were exposed, and the woes they suffered from at the hands of the governments of both Umayyads and Abbasides, chastising al-Rashid and both his sons, then going after that to eulogize Imam al-Rida (A.S.) in a style which shows genuine distress and agony, including the same accusation that al-Mamoon had murdered him.
Amr al-Salami Eulogy
imam reza(a.s)
Among others who eulogized him was Amr al-Salami who says in his eulogy:
O you, caravan singer, singing at the reins!
Listen, and let others tomorrow listen to thee...
Recite Salam on a grave at Toos and do not
Recite Salam or wish well the people of Toos,
Terror did the hearts of Muslims fill,
And fear of Iblis now has hatched at will,
For silence now is the best man that lived
So, what a loss, and what a loser!
Should Death come to rule the throne,
He will face men with faces of stone.
Away with Toos for never were its homes
Telling of misery to come and to be
A wedding for the dead, not a life for the doer.
How long the flute, how merry the wedding!
Fates reached him with the claws,
While troops throng and hard to count
Death found the most gentle cub in his den,
And death meets the father of cubs in the den.
Still deriving light from his father,
Reaching the Prophet, light without fire.
In soil their branches stood tall and high
Of lofty trunk, in the King"s land thrives.
Branches stand when roots are firm
And the world by sure faith lives.
No day is more fit for grief
For beating, for tearing the sleeve
For wounding cheeks, for cutting the nose
More than the day of Toos
When mourners mourned, scribes cried,
`Is it really true al-Rida died?"
Death takes only the envied away.
That who lived for two minutes or a day
Is lying like one who will join and stay
Maybe in two days..., who can say?
When the sun shone, his own did set,
The day had come when he was to rest.
Why? Give the garb of death please to me,
Why take him into a grave, woe unto me?
Victim of a day that couldn"t dare to be
Victimized. Wrapped him in the garb of death,
Let me be the wearer, please, not he,
Of a garb never sewn or worn before.
Greets you the One you did worship and adore,
On days of heat, nights of chill, in the plains,
Had things in life not stood in contrast
In virtues, none would have ever passed
A judgment in it that could endure.
The Almighty has welcomed thee to a place
That is everlasting with bliss and grace
To His Messenger you are now near,
A place so lovely, a place so dear.
Da"bal al-Khuza"i Eulogy After Receiving the news of Death of Imam al-Rida (A.S.)
imam reza(a.s)
Da"bal al-Khuza"i said: "When the news of the death of al-Rida (A.S.) reached me, I was at Qum and I recited one my poems; some of its verses were:
I see the Umayyads excused if they were to kill,
But I see no reason why the Abbasides should at will;
Sons of Harb, Marwan and their breed
Banu Ma"eet, grudge and hate is their creed.
People whom you had to fight in early days
Of Islam to bring them to His ways.
When they became in charge and did rule,
They reverted to Kufr and left the usool.
Head towards Toos, to the grave site
Of the pure one, of the faith that is right,
If you ever wish to remember Islam like me,
Pristine, Islam of Muhammad and Ali.
Two graves in Toos: one for the best of all,
And the worst man people will ever recall.
No good will reach the villain who is lying nigh
In grave to one whose virtues reach the sky,
Nor will the pure suffer any harm
When near the soul that will never calm.
No indeed! Every soul shall reap what it did earn
So take what you will, or leave it to burn!"
Da"bal composed many eulogies about Imam al-Rida (A.S.), using his poetry as a vehicle to disseminate the mission in whose principles he strongly believed which were: to attract the nation"s attention to the injustice done to the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) and to the transgression upon their rights, to the corruption of self-imposed government systems which went beyond all reasonable limits in their iniquity and despotism. Da"bal is considered the greatest poet of that time and the most articulate in defending his beliefs and the principles in which he believed. In his poetry, he provides us with an honest picture of the reality of the oppressive government system which was followed by the Abbaside dynasty then, and of the tragedies the Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) underwent because of their oppression.
Ali ibn Abu Abdullah al-Khawwafi Eulogy
imam reza(a.s)
Among others who eulogized the Imam (A.S.) was Ali ibn Abu Abdullah al-Khawwafi who said:
May God"s Grace water thee, O land of Toos!
What treasures has your land down deep?!
In the world your lands are called good
Made good by one in Sanabad asleep,
A man whose murder was hard on Islam
A man wrapped and drenched in God"s mercy.
O the grave of his! In thee are clemency,
Knowledge, purity, and glory abound.
O envied grave! Angels do thee guard!
Abu Firas al-Hamadani Eulogy
imam reza(a.s)
Abu Firas al-Hamadani said:
Sinned and killed al-Rida (A.S.) and were not kind,
Men whose hatred of him made them blind.
First pleased then distressed for eternity
A band that perished after its safety.
No allegiance, kinship, or mercy did indeed
Stop the rogues from committing the foul deed.
What the poet mentions here is nothing but the bitter truth about the tragedy which was represented in the regency and the stance taken by the same ones who arranged it, for they were happy with it when they first nominated him as the successor to the caliph, the last step towards caliphate which, according to the Divine Will, was the natural right of Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.), but they became distressed when the rogues deliberately assassinated the Imam (A.S.) despite their oath of allegiance to him and despite the assurances, the promises, and the sacred oaths they had sworn...
There are many eulogies in which the poets mentioned the tragedy the Imam (A.S.) lived due to the oppression of the caliphs of his time suffices us what we have quoted of them because to elaborate means to unnecessarily prolong the discussion.
Source
Taken from: Imam al-Rida - A Historical and Biographical Research By: Muhammad Jawad Fadlallah, Translated from the Arabic by: Yasin T. al-Jibouri.
source : tebyan
