The Call of the Free : An adaptation of Rida al-Khafaji's Sawt al-Hurr al-Riyahi

The Call of the Free portrays the events leading up to the massacre of al-?usayn 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-?urr al-Riya?i, a man caught between his duties as a soldier of the Umayyad Caliphate and his conscience. In ?awt al-?urr al-Riya?i, the Iraqi poet and playwright Ri?a al-Khafaji invigorates the historical narrative of al-?urr 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.