Regarded as a central work of Bengali literature, and Hussain's finest literary achievement, the novel chronicles the Shia version of the lives of Muhammad's grandsons.
[1] However, it is not considered an authentic source for the history of Karbala, the location of Husayn's warfront, or the place of his death.
At the time of its composition, there were few published novels in the Bengali language, and Mosharraf Hussain was part of a community of writers working to pioneer a new tradition of novels in Bengali.
The novel was written in Shadhubhasha, a highly Sanskritised form of Bengali.
[4] It was translated into English for the first time by Prof. Fakrul Alam in 2016, published by the Bangla Academy in Dhaka under the title "Ocean of Sorrow".