The image is a cover page of a lecture delivered by the religious scholar Hasan al-Husayni on the life of the grandson of the Prophet, Imam Husayn: “al-husayn—safahat min hayat rayhanat al-mustafa” (“al-Husayn—pages from the life of Rayhanat al-Mustafa”). The phrase “rayhanat al-mustafa” is an epithet of al-Husyan meaning Chrysanthemum of Mustafa; Mustafa is one of the Prophet’s nicknames. In this image, the word Husayn is dripping with blood. It evokes the martyrdom of al-Husayn on 10 October 680 A.D., which is a central moment in Shi’a history, marking the greatest confessional schism within Islam. In the Shi’a context, the blood symbolizes the oppression, tyranny and injustice surrounding the martyrdom of the Prophet’s grandson, as well as of the continued oppression of Shi’a under Sunni regimes. While the blood glorifies al-Husayn’s martyrdom specifically, it also glorifies martyrdom in general.
