The Period of Arbaeen culminates in an ebb and flow of humanity that is as potent as an ocean swell and often as powerful in its voluminous surges. Though never are the surges entirely associated with the physical but rather the metaphysical, spiritual and emotional. What is often felt by any given individual is compounded by the collective emotional and devotional outpouring that wells in the hearts of the millions of pilgrims who converge upon the sanctified precinct of Karbala and especially the holy abodes of Imam Hussein (as) and Aba Fadthlil Abbas (as).

The image above demonstrates the perfect metaphor of the lives and relationship of Imam Hussein (as) and his beloved brother Aba Fadthlil Abbas (as). One seen through the heart of the other, one existing for the other and between whom, Muslims, forever finding solace, comfort and meaning through their example.

Walking between the two brothers shrines, one is immediately and simultaneously struck with joy and grief, solace and pain and above all seeking and finding. To walk to one, one must walk away for the other. The pilgrim is torn, not knowing how to reconcile that painful truth. The gravitational pull of both shrines is immense and all encompassing. The heart yearns for both. One stands between the two in that sanctified place named “Bain Al Haramain”( between the two sanctified shrines) only then realising that the gravitation surge is not of separation but rather of embracing. The pilgrims are embraced by the two brothers and recorded in the heavenly annals for all eternity as “Zoowar”