“The Joys of Sorrow” – Welcome the Water

Words Sakina M. 
Photograph Alifiya S. 

Sakina Behn is a student currently living in New Jersey, USA. Creator of @rida.apparel, she hopes to inspire behno with her love for fashion. Her immense passion for art, literature, politics, and fashion shape her identity as a global citizen. The name Sakina means peace, and this is the philosophy Sakina Behn lives by through her personal life and world views.

The Joys of Sorrow:

Ashara is around the corner. Indeed this Gregorian month will see us welcome it. It is for the individual to decide what readiness and what preparation means for them when it comes to the case; though united in attempts to ready each other through practice, the reality is the journey is an individual one. Blog posts this month will explore what anticipation and readiness our writers have for the greatest test on Earth.

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Approximately 131.4 million babies are born a year, while 55.3 million people die during the same time period. Time slows as a mother waits to hear the wail of her child; as time comes to an end, a single tear from the left eye leaks out and the cheeks of mourners dampen.

Our lives begin and end with something as rudimentary as crying. It is strange that something so instinctive, so fundamental to our existence, has become disdained. We’ve all experienced it: the warmth creeping up your neck, the ache in your head, hands clenched to will the tears to stop. And when your body finally wins the battle against your mind, you rush to a private place, splash cold water, pray the redness leaves from your face. How many times have we ourselves looked away awkwardly when confronted with the same red faces and wet eyes? How many times have we told children, or our friends, “Don’t cry, it’s okay, just don’t cry”, instead of trying to understand what caused the tears in the first place?

I feel fortunate that since birth I have been taught the power of tears – the power of humanity. I have witnessed the sheer power of Imam Hussain’s (AS) narrative, one that wets the eyes of all those who hear it, including young children, and those who have heard it not five times, not ten times, but more than a hundred. The enormous capacity of empathy resides in all our hearts, and the story of Imam Hussain (AS) has transformed this empathy into a superpower.

Only a warm heart can transform a cold world, only love can drown out hate, and only empathy can mend the indifferent. And so I say “Welcome Tears!” Welcome to the sappy movies, and welcome to departed characters in books and TV Shows. Welcome to ruksatis and the “I’ll see you soons’”. Welcome to the grief of a lost loved one and welcome to Facebook videos of war and death. Welcome to the ultimate story of pain and sacrifice. Welcome, my friend. I’m sorry we’ve neglected you. Thank you for reminding us of our humanity. Thank you for the love.

Yours truly,

An Admirer

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