Oh Father! What shall my fingers pen

The gallows' rope and executioner are waiting for me

I write this letter from a cold and rock wall prison

For I have only one night to live

I feel the eve's darkness is my coffin

No doubt, this night shall pass, Father!

And then you carry my dead body

Poem by Egyptian Poet Hashem Al-Rifai'

Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): That day, after the phone call that Al-Samie's family received, Jamil Al-Samie sat with his family and discussed what was being circulated over phone calls and various social media outlets. Abbas's mother; however, was settled on her praying mat.

Abbas' mother says that her phone rang at 7:30 am. A person from Jaw prison informed her that there is a visit she needs to make. "It hasn't been long since our last visit," she replies. He reiterates the need to come and visit Abbas. "I have four sons in prison and we usually see them all in the same visit," she says. He; however, stresses that the visit was only for her son Abbas.

She remains silent, wearing her prayer gown. Everyone who knows Abbas's mother is well aware that her 26-year old son, Abbas, has a special place in her heart, and also in the hearts of his sisters and brothers. Even his siblings know that he is their mother's favorite child.

Her daughter enters the room holding the phone: "Mom, people are calling you. The lawyer called and a TV channel did too." Abbas's mother finishes her prayers, grabs the phone and enters the room.

A few hours later, she leaves the house to visit her son. She; however, returns in a different condition; broken and insulted due to the humiliating body searches they were subjected to, noting that they were searched twice in Jaw prison. She returns home but as a changed woman who bid the last farewell to her son, thinking that her most beloved will be dragged to his death over a crime he did not commit.

She cried her heart out on the Lualua TV in a phone call with the presenter Rayan Sharara who also could not hold back her tears. Despite her immense grief, Abbas's mother took the opportunity to pass on a message from her resilient son whom she bid farewell a few hours earlier. "The regime is about to take an escalatory and frightening step. If Bahrainis want to achieve victory, their dignity, rights and freedom, they must stand against the oppressor, sacrifice their children and money and voice the word of truth in the face of the tyrant regime," he said.

"None of these can be achieved without sacrifices...None can be achieved unless numerous lives are lost," he further stated in his message to the people of Bahrain.

She ends the phone call, pulls herself together and prays for her son. Then, she hears gunshots fired by security forces as hundreds of demonstrators marched through the streets in protest against the execution.

It seemed, only for brief moments, that all of this was but an awful dream. She stares at a photo of her four imprisoned sons and thinks to herself, "everything about you is different from others. Even money is valueless to you. Some people would sell their souls for money, but it is worthless to you. It is like you only save money to help others."

Meanwhile, Jamil Al-Samie, Abbas's father, was quiet, gazing at two pictures hung in the corner of the room. The first is Hassan Taher Al-Samie's, his brother who was martyred in the 1990s, and the second is of his son Abbas, smiling with the phrase "We are all Abbas" written in clear handwriting on top of the photo.

Arabic Version