Karbala and Ashura, Out of Time and Space
How is it possible that every place is Karbala and every day is Ashura? Are not the concepts of time and space present in Karbala? Of course not! Time and space are ‘relative’ matters. They do not exist in an ‘absolute’ situation.
Karbala is the heart of earth and Ashura is the heart of time. In other words, Karbala is the absolute on the earth and Ashura is the absolute in time. That is where the heavenly paths start and the gate to the world of absolute is opened.
There is no time and space in Karbala. In order to get to Karbala, one should go beyond the self, beyond the attachments of this world and further than time and place; to let go of the attractions of this world and to leave. A selfish heart can never understand what it means to be in love with the school of thought of Hussein (AS).
Ashura is still here and the caravan of Karbala is still on its way. This caravan of love traverses the path of history, and is with this caravan anyone who let go of the worldly attachments because of it.
Many years have lapsed since Ashura, but the rulers of the world are still people like Yazid. Karbala will be here as long as the people of Yazid are here. This battle between good and evil never ends.
Every place in the world can be Karbala and every single day can be Ashura. The actual place and date are just indicators of a great and unique event, which took place when the men of God willingly let go of their attachments and properties, and sacrificed whatever they had, just to fight for establishment of the religion of God and the truth.
This is what distinguishes human from all the other beings, as it is the personification of truth.
Karbala and Ashura, being out of the boundaries of time and space, are measures for us to judge ourselves before it comes the Doomsday, so that we could realize if we are fighting for the right or for the wrong front in this battle.
By: Hojjatuleslam Seyed Javad Hosseini
Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi
Other links:
The Beauties of Ashura: The Most Beautiful Choice
The Beauties of Ashura: The Most Beautiful Words
The Beauties of Ashura: The Most Beautiful Respect
The Beauties of Ashura: The Most Beautiful Repent (Hur ibn Yazid Riyahi)
The Beauties of Ashura: The Most Beautiful Repent (Zuhayr ibn Ghin)
