[The stage is set in Medina. IMAM HUSSAIN sits in contemplation. A MESSENGER enters.]
MESSENGER: Ya Hussain, a letter from Damascus. The Caliph Yazid demands your allegiance.
HUSSAIN: (reading the letter, his face grave) He demands what cannot be given. My allegiance belongs to truth, not to thrones.
MESSENGER: The Caliph's patience is limited. He warns of consequences.
HUSSAIN: (standing) Let him send his armies. I will not bow before injustice, even if it costs me everything I have.
MESSENGER: Think of your family, your followers.
HUSSAIN: I think of nothing else. It is for their sake—for the sake of all who would live with dignity—that I must refuse. A single moment of cowardice would corrupt generations to come.
[He turns to face the audience.]
HUSSAIN: There are times when silence is betrayal. When tyranny demands submission, the only worthy response is resistance. Let them do what they will. History will judge between us.
[Lights dim.]