The Walk that Is Not like any Other Walk

The Road I Still Walk — Even When My Feet Cannot

Some journeys are made with the body. Others are carried forever in the heart.

Every year, when the month of Safar comes, I feel the pull — like an invisible thread tugging at my soul — toward the road from Najaf to Karbala. I can still see it when I close my eyes: the horizon shimmering in the distance, the sound of millions of footsteps, the hum of prayer and love.

I remember the road not as an ordinary path, but as a living river of generosity. Families standing along the way, waiting for pilgrims they have never met — calling them “Welcome, guest of Hussain!” and refusing to let them pass without resting. The smell of hot bread and fresh tea. The soft mats laid out for tired travelers. Doctors and volunteers serving without pay. Even the smallest child holding a jug of water, eager to pour it for strangers.

✨ “Some roads are walked with feet, and some are walked with tears… but both lead to Karbala.”

This is Arbaeen — the largest peaceful gathering on Earth. Every year, tens of millions of people from all corners of the world make this pilgrimage to Imam Hussain (ع), undeterred by scorching heat or freezing cold. It is a walk of love to honor the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), who 1400 years ago stood unshaken before tyranny and gave his life for justice, dignity, and truth. His stand was not for one nation or one faith, but for all of humanity. Truly, the one whose memory lives in billions of hearts can never die.

Every year, my feet have carried me to Karbala, step by step, prayer by prayer. But this year, my journey has taken a different form. My steps remain beside my beloved mother, caring for her in her illness. And in my heart, I know: this, too, is a road to Karbala. Because serving her with love is also walking the path Imam Hussain taught us — the path of sacrifice, service, and compassion.

To those who have never seen Arbaeen, I invite you to search for it. See the faces. Hear the prayers. Learn why the memory of a man who left this world over fourteen centuries ago is etched in the hearts of billions — and why his light grows brighter every single year.

Hussain is not only a chapter in history. Hussain is a heartbeat. And once you walk for him — whether on the road of Najaf or in the quiet service of love — you carry that heartbeat forever.

Labayka Ya Hussain.