Publisher's Synopsis
The Call of the Free portrays the events leading up to the massacre of al-Ḥusayn b. ?Ali, his family, and his companions at Karbala on the day of ?Ashura? in 61 AH/680 CE, as seen through the eyes of al-Ḥurr al-Riyaḥi, a man caught between his duties as a soldier of the Umayyad Caliphate and his conscience. In Ṣawt al-Ḥurr al-Riyaḥi, the Iraqi poet and playwright Riḍa al-Khafaji invigorates the historical narrative of al-Ḥurr's defection, and the turmoil of his conscience, by introducing the character of The Caller-a mysterious voice from the unseen. This adaptation into English by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi seeks to introduce the long theatrical tradition of Mystery plays in honour of ?Ashura? to the Anglophone world -offering the reader an insight into the rich commemorative practices surrounding the lamentation of the massacre at Karbala.
