Tell him, mother!
Tell him now!
Tell him you forbid it, right away.
I don’t care what grandpa says—
You know father will just agree.
Isn’t it bad enough how we suffer?
Grandpa is sick and I see the crows
The ravens mutter and the vultures circle.
I swear it mother, they mean us harm.
Yet father just spends day and night in prayer—
He’s looking tired.
And when I beg him,
He tells me God knows best.
Mother, how can I rest like this?
I’ve seen those horrors
Time after time in dreams.
I’ve heard those screams,
And seen those thirsty faces.
They thirst for justice.
They thirst for water, mother!
I beseech you,
Oh mother!
My child! Oh the light of my eye!
I'm not long with you here.
I'll follow my father to the best place.
The place where I am queen.
You think my heart isn’t broken too?
To send my dearest son to that place?
Think not of these things now—
You are a child.
Play with your brothers,
They need their sister now.
For while they are princes now,
Know this well:
These men are not of this earth.
God has purified them
And steadied their hand—
They live for special terrible purpose.
He is a king, your brother, you know,
A king among kings, even.
Not just the prince of the hereafter.
We must let him go.
We must keep steady his path
To that barren desert place.
I’ve seen too
That wretched blood-soaked earth.
The screams of children,
The thirst of the pious.
You must let him go.
And you must go with him.
Yes, you must go with him, my dear.
Your greatest work lies in those days
That follow the pain you’ve seen.
Your name will forever be met with fear.
With a glimpse of the power of woman!
In this filthy world of men.
After all, my darling,
The Message rests in you,
As much as your brothers.
You are half Messenger yourself!
And there is no less in you,
Zainab, my dear,
The Lion
That is in your brother,
Hussain.