Abu Zahra joined them. "Despite our difficulties and weariness, we revive Arbaeen and lift the banner," they repeated.
Noon approached, and the men began preparing 500 plates. Young boys ran to the street. "Everyone is welcome!" they cried. "It is the food of Hussein." Crowds spilled into the courtyard, clambering in a cloud of dust to the edge of the tent.
Pilgrims worship at the shrines of Hussein in Karbala on the eve of Arbaeen, the 40th day of mourning for Shiite Islam's most beloved saint.
(Hadi Mizban -- AP)
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Abu Zahra goes by many names. His real name is Ali Hussein, though only a handful of people call him Ali. Some use Alawi, a nickname for Ali. Most use Abu Zahra. As the hungry crowd gathered, he became Abu Qima, the Qima guy.
"Pour! Pour!" men shouted as Abu Zahra ladled the qima on plates of rice. "Hurry, hurry, Abu Qima!"
He sat on a bag of onions, with a barely perceptible smile, pouring the stew with a red plastic cup. Dishes were reused twice, maybe three times, as more than 1,000 men and women were fed. "Be patient," Abu Zahra pleaded softly. "Be patient."
Within an hour, the crowds thinned, and Abu Zahra stood up, his hands cramped. A friend put a cigarette in his mouth.
"Even if the Americans forbid us to come, even if there were explosions and bombing and we died one by one, we'd still come to visit Imam Hussein," he said. "It's a holy place, and Hussein protects us. God and Imam Hussein protect us."
Behind him, the processions toward the shrine were again audible. The drums beat three times; the trumpets sounded.
"O Hussein," the pilgrims cried.
