Heartfelt Writings for Star of the Hearts, Lady Ruqayyah (PBUH)
Star of the Hearts, Lady Ruqayyah (PBUH)
O my Master (Hussain)!
I seek nearness to God through crying for You,
through wailing aloud, and
through my grief and regret and weeping
Excerpt from Ziyarat Mutlaqah of Sayyid al-Shuhada (p)
Fatima (p) is a Lady whose very name is enough to leave the earth and sky, humankind and jinn, the compassionate and the hard-hearted, bewildered and astonished.
She is the Lady of the Worlds, the Leader of the Women of all times.
Wherever Her cherished son goes, She casts Her shadow, to remind everyone that Hussain (p) is the path of servitude and closeness to the Lord.
And Her manifestation in Shām is “Ruqayyah”, the orphan who, by Allah’s permission, connects souls to His sacred presence just like Her Mother.
Indeed, our afflictions have grown immense because of You, O daughter of Hussain.
Our eyes have turned toward you with burning tears, Our faces have paled from the sobs of deep sorrow, And our hearts have been pierced by the arrows of the deeply rooted hatred of the oppressive family of Umayyah.
I acknowledge that You endured many calamities...
And You are alive, as affirmed by the text of the Book, Where the Swift-in-Reckoning said:
“Do not think of those who were killed in the way of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive, being provided for by their Lord...”
Ziyarat of Mafjaeh of Hazrat Ruqayyah, peace be upon Her
It is narrated in the book Sorur al-Mu’minin:
Hazrat Ruqayyah (p) used to spread Her Father’s prayer mat each time for prayer, and Imam (p)
would pray upon it.
On the noon of Ashura, as was Her habit, She spread Her Father’s prayer mat and sat waiting.
But after a while, suddenly She saw Shimr the accursed enter the tent.
Our Lady Ruqayyah (p) said to him:
“Did you see My Father?”
That accursed one, seeing Her sitting beside the prayer mat waiting for Her Father, told his servant: “Strike Her.”
The servant refused to carry out this order.
Then Shimr (may Allah’s curse be upon him)
himself advanced and slapped that delicate child’s face so hard that the Throne of God trembled...
O Noble Lady!
Your Father came to You in the dead of night, in the corner of the ruin, in Your dream.
He shed many tears and said to You:
“My precious one, why is Your face bruised, My three-year-old Zahra?
Did You also hold the document of the Garden of Fadak in Your little hands?”
May Allah curse who struck and slapped You.
What pain is greater for a servant than the separation from the Imam...
He who has found His Master—what has he truly lost?
And he who has turned away from the fatherly embrace of his Master—what in this world will he find?
When the truth of servitude and worship must be sought in Hussain and in tears for Hussain (p), what sustenance should one beg for, so that the thirsty desert of the self might be transformed into the life and vitality of Muhammadi being?
One must grasp the hands of that beloved intercessor whose lap was adorned by Her Father’s severed, bloodied head, and in that moment Her soul parted from Her body and migrated to Her Father.
She is the one who rescues those cut off from Hazrat Aba Abdillah al-Husayn (p), connects them to the sacred presence of the “Father of Servants” (Aba Abdillah), and raises them up in the endless sea of the lovers.
O Fatimah al-Shafi'ah (the Intercessor), O Siddiqah al-Shahidah (Truthful Martyr), O Ruqayyah al-Murtaqa, Lady of the Worlds, We too are orphans of the family of Muhammad— orphans whom the tyranny and injustice of this world have separated from our Master...
That oppression which first began with the slap on that divine face in the alley of Bani Hashim...
From the bruising of Ali’s beloved, darkness spread over the veil of creation, and hearts grew cold and hard with ignorance and ego...
We thirst for reunion with our Imam...
Our eyes are filled with hope for Your intercession...
So that through Your hands, our union with our Master might be realized...
Intercede for us...
Do not be misled by Her young age or Her small stature. All of history, even to this day, stands in awe of Her free spirit, understanding, and perfection.
She came to be the clear proof of Her Father’s loneliness, She weeps to continue Her family's call for truth and justice. Ruqayyah (peace be upon Her)...
The beloved three-year-old of Her Father, the solace for Zaynab’s restlessness, the source of strength that helped Imam Sajjad endure those fateful days of captivity, the sweet smile on Uncle Abbas’s lips...
Your blessed name even now stirs turmoil in the hearts and minds of the devoted of Hussain, and Shia will forever remain indebted to Your meaningful, knowing tears...
Your small, noble hands have for years been the intercessor and the solver of the knots for the Prophet’s (p) nation.
O Star in the hearts of Hussain’s lovers! O Ruqayyah! Your tragedy is too heavy to fit within the lines of our words...
Peace be upon You, O Martyr of Grief and Weeping.
Peace be upon the Weeping, Complaining, and Lamenting One.
Peace be upon the One Possessing Great Sorrow.
Peace be upon the One with tearing Eyes.
O Possessor of Grief, in the land of sorrow...
O my Lady, O my Mistress,
O Ruqayyah, Bint al-Hussain (p),
For forty stations of captivity,
Your eyes were like oceans,
Your liver turned to blood, and Your lips were constantly murmuring the remembrance of Hussain (p), until You finally were united with the dot beneath the Bā’ (head of Hussain, p)...
O Intercessor from the Family of Hussain (p), Through Your blessed name and Your blessed hands that untie every knot of hardship, we seek intercession, hoping to earn the worthiness to join our Master...
That very Master who, for centuries, resembles You, the Avenger who morning and night, weeps blood.
Ājarakallah, O our Master, Baqiyyatallah (may our souls be sacrificed for Him).
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