Imam al-Jawad (as)

Occasion

Our beloved Muhammad al-Jawad (as), the one whose knowledge bloomed while he was still a child at his father, Imam al-Rida's (as) side was taken from this world at only twenty-five.

Twenty-five, an age when a person is still becoming. An age of newlyweds, young families, unfinished stories, work just beginning, children still small enough to reach for a father’s hand.

He left behind a household that had to learn, again, how to grieve someone whose years were few but whose light was complete.

Prompt

This week, write toward the grief of losing someone in their prime: newlyweds, young parents, servants of the community, lives just beginning to reveal their light. Let this wound lead you to Imam al-Jawad (a.s.), taken at only twenty-five: son, father, teacher, Imam, hujjah.

Imagine what his family and companions carried when youth itself was buried before them. You may write through an object left behind: a cup, cloak, pen, doorway, child’s sandal. Let the poem ask how a brief life can overflow, and how love continues when tomorrow is returned to God too soon.

Starting Ideas

A hadith - “He whoever complies with his passions is complying with his enemy” - Imam Jawad (as)

A grief - losing someone while they are still young: newly married, newly a parent, newly discovering their calling, newly becoming the person they dreamt to become.

A virtue - his generosity: a life does not need to be long to overflow. Write toward a giving that was larger than the years that contained it.

An image - a young son’s first night alone after burying his father.