DU’L-JANAH: Difference between revisions

'''Du’l-Janah''' is Imam Husayn’s winged horse, known from popular literature and rituals. According to popular literature, Du’l-Janah returned to the tents of the [[Ahl-e Bayt]] after [[Imam Husayn]]’s [[martyrdom]] to convey the news of this tragedy. Du’l-Janah, feeding the Artists’ imagination, plays an important role in [[Ta'ziya]] and other [[Ashurai arts]].   

Du’l-Janah was mentioned in medieval narratives of Husayn’s [[martyrdom]] at [[Karbala]] ([[maqatel]]), for example, [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/ibn-atham-al-kufi-COM_30716 Ibn Aʿtham Kufi]’s 9th-century Ketab al-fotuh and al-Lohuf by Ibn Taʾus Taʾusi (d. 664/1266), which became sources for later Turkish and Persian [[maqtal-namas]]. In al-Lohuf the horse, unnamed but said to be descended from the Prophet [[Muhammad]]’s mount, is supposed to have dipped its head in its master’s blood and attacked the enemy. It then returned, smeared with Husayn’s blood, to the tents of the [[Ahl-e Bayt]]. As it approached, Husayn’s infant daughter [[Sukayna]] began to cry, joined by the other women in the family (pp. 98-99; cf. Calmard, p. 120). The Turkish Dastan-e maqatel-e Husayn (763/1362) by Shadi Maddah contains a similar account but includes the name Du’l-Janah (Mélikoff, p. 142; Calmard, pp. 225-26). Husayn Waʿez Kashefi, in [[Rawzat al-Shuhada]] (comp. 908/1502), recounted a detailed story, partly based on Ibn Aʿtham’s text, in which Du’l-Janah, instead of behaving aggressively, weeps (p. 363; cf. Calmard, p. 396; Ebn Aʿtam, tr., pp. 538-39). According to various traditions, Du’l-Janah eventually killed itself or disappeared into the desert (Waʿez Kashefi, p. 349).

At least from Safavid times, representations of Husayn’s horse were led in the processions and pageants that developed into [[Ta'ziya|taʿziya]] performances of the [[martyrdom]] of Husayn. This “nationalist” tradition also found its way into the literature of such plays (Pelly, II, p. 173; Calmard, p. 396). Du’l-Janah appears in various other taʿziya episodes, for example, [[Qasim b. Hasan]]’s marriage at Karbala: Husayn orders the horse brought to his daughter [[Fatima]], who rides it to the bridal chamber (Humayuni, p. 14). Du’l-Janah was also represented in [[Muharram]] processions in India (Pelly, I, p. xxii) and is still included at Lucknow, Delhi, and probably elsewhere (Jaffri, pp. 224-25).

*Husayn Wāʿeẓ Kāšefī, Rawżat al-šohadāʾ . . ., ed. M. Ramażānī, Tehran, 1344/1955. (Jean Calmard) Originally Published: December 15, 1996. Last Updated: December 1, 2011. This article is available in print. Vol. VII, Fasc. 6, pp. 569-570.