EVEN THE NEWBORN!
'Abdullah, the six-month old baby of Imam al-Husayn (a), was fainted because of thirst. So, his mother carried him to Lady Zaynad so that she might do something. Lady Zaynab took the baby to her brother, Imam al-Husayn (a), and please him to fetch water for him. The Imam (a) took the baby, kissed him very often, and carried him before the Umayyad army hoping their hearts would feel pity for the baby and give him some water. This situation had nothing to do with those heartless, inhumane creatures, and instead of sympathizing with the baby, they threw him with a dart that settled in his neck. Feeling the heat of that dart, the baby took his two hands away from his swaddle and began to flutter like a slain bird on his father's chest. Finally, he raised his head to the heavens and breathed his last breath before his father's eyes.
The Imam (a), so steadfastly, handed the slain baby to Lady Zaynab, raised his two hands, which were full of the baby's blood, towards the heavens, and complained to the Creator.
THE GRAND ADVERSITY
With self-possession and unprecedented resoluteness, Imam al-Husayn (a) stood completely lonely in the midst of the battlefield while he was surrounded, from every side, by his brutal foes some of whom were surprised at his courage even as the others could not hide their amazement. Despite everything, Imam al-Husayn (a) attacked his enemies and caused them losses.
He then returned to the tents to bid farewell and give his last instructions to the harem. He ordered them to depend upon Almighty Allah by means of patience and steadfastness, He then turned his eyes towards his sister, Lady Zaynab, and instructed her to adhere to patience and try her best to hide her tears and irritation. He finally ordred her to be the guardian of the children and harem.
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When he was about to leave, his harem surrounded him with teary eyes and grievous hearts. The extremely ailed, 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, asked his aunt, Lady Zaynab, to give him a stick and a sword; s stick to help him stand erectly, and a sword to defend his father. Seeing this situation, Imam al-Husayn (a) asked his sister to prevent 'Ali from proceeding to the battlefield, and she did, yet forcibly.
Finally, gave the last instrucions to the harem: dress heavy loincloth, ready themselves for misfortunes, and submit completely to Almighty Allah. The Imam's last words to them were:
استعدوا للبلاء واعلموا أ نالله حاميكم و حافظكم و سينجيكم من شر الأعداء و يجعل عاقبة أمركم ألي خير و يعذب عدوكم بأنواع العذاب و يعوضكم عن هذه البلية بأنواع النعم و الكراممة. فلا تشكوا ولا تقولوا بألسنتكم ما ينقص قدركم.
Prepare yourselves for the imminent misfortunes. You should know that Allah shall guard, protect, and save you from the evils of those enemies, He shall confer uon you with a good end result, shall punish you enemies with the most grievous chastisement, and shall award you for this adrersity with the best graces and blessins. You therefore must not complain and must not say things that discredit you.
He then supplicated to his Lord and complained to Him against the misfortunes he had to suffer. He said :
صبرا علي قضائك يا رب, لا إله سواك, يا غياث المستغيثين , ما لي رب سواك و لا معبود غيرك. صبرا علي حكمك يا غياث من لا غياث له, يا دائما لا نفاد له , يا محيي الموتي, يا قائما علي كل نفس بما كسبت , أحكم بيني و بينهم و أنت خير الحاكمين.
O Lord, I take patience over Your providence. There is no god save You. You are the helper of the succor-seekers. Except You, I have no lord nor deity. I take patience over Your rule. You are the helper of the
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shelterless. You are the everlasting Subsistent. You are the Watcher over each and every soul as to what it earns. ( I implore to You to) judge between us, and You are the best to judge.
From every side, the criminal, filthy gang of the Umayyad army attacked Imam al-Husayn (a); they struck him with swords and stabbed him with lances.1
When he rested on the ground, no one of them had the courage to put him to death. He therefore rested there for a long time.
Seeing this situation, Lady Zaynab stood at her tent's open and mourned for the Imam (a) so sadly. She shouted, 'Oh, for my brother! Oh , for my master! Oh, for the rest of my household! would Allah the heavens had fallen upon the earth! Would allah mounains had been made to crumble on plains!"
She then shouted at 'Umar ibn Sa'd, "How do you accept to watch Abu Abdullah while he is being slain?"
As an answer, the cursed 'Umar turned his face away from her while his tears were shedding on his beard.
Because she could no longer see her brother in such a state, Lady Zaynab had to return to the tents to watch over the children and harem who would soon be without protection.
'Umar ibn Sa'd thenordered the commanders of his army to put the Imam (a) to death, but none of them agreed except Shamr. He walded towards the Imam (a) and cut off his head.
The Imam 's horse began to neigh aloud and try to kick the enemies with its legs. It then smeared its face with the blood of the Imam and directed towards the tents of the harem.
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1- See Shahid Hamid ibn Muhammad al-Mahalli, al-Hada iq al-Wardiyyah, vol. 1, p.126.
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Lady Zaynab ran towards the pure body ofImam al-Husayn (a) and saw how it was torn by the swords and lances of those ruthless fiends. Before that body, she stood with pefect dignity and modesty -though the the surrounding of the enemies- glanced at the heavens, and said that statement, which has lit up with the purest spirit of faith and sincerity to Almighty Allah. She said:
أللهم تقبل منا هذاالقربان.
O Allah, accept from us this offering.
Lady zaynab received that misfortune with steadfastness because it was for sake of Almighty allah and for keeping His religion as pure and genuine as it was revealed from the Heavens. By these words, she showed the real meaning of the Prophetic heritage and the perseveranceon the carrying out of her father's will.
After they had slain and marauded the Imam(a), the Umayyad army, according to the orders of their commandment, carried firebrands and directed towards the tents of the Imam's camp to put them on fire.
When these tent wee put on fire, the children and harem had to leave them fleeing to nowhere. The ladies of the Prophet's family had t run from one tent to another, while the children, descendants of the Prophet (s), were crying and trying to cling to their guardian, Lady Zaynab. Furthermore, some of them ran aimlessly.
These hours were the harshest misfortunes that the Prphet's family had ever suffered. Thoughout his life Imam 'Ali Zayn al='Abidin (a) could not forget these hours: He used to remember them with grief, saying "Whenever I look at my aunts and sisters, tears turn in my eyes. I remember when they were running from a tent to another while the enemies were shouting : put the houses of the wrongful ones on fire."
Moreover, the criminal usurped everything these tents included. They also stroke the ladies of the Prophet's household with the lower parts of their lances while the
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ladies were resorting to each other for protecton. They also usurped theirs jewelries.
The criminals attacked the ailed 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin. Shamr determined to kill him, but another man rebuked and tried to prevent him. However, Shamr did not heed; he ran towards the ailed to kill him. Lady Zaynab hurried towards her nephew, held on to him, and said, "No, you should first kill me before you kill him."1 Because of this situation, the cursed Shamr stopped.
Out of his brutality, Umar, under a promise of awards, asked for volunteers to drive their horses to run over the chest and back of the body of Imam al-Husayn (a), ten wicked horsemen stood up, rode their horses, and trampled upon the body of the Imam (a).
Night came, and it was the cruelest night in the life of te Propht's household. Despite everything, Lady Zaynab went into her mission as guardian of her martyred brother's children and harem; she hurried to pick up the children in that desolate desert and gathered the all in one place. She then comforted and solaced them with words of patience while the dead bodies of their fathers and brothers spread in that area and the criminals whom were assigned for watching the children and harem surrounded them.
At that cruel night too, Lady Zaynab gathered her powers, stood up, and offerred a thanksgiving prayer to the Almighty Lord for the adversities and misfortunes she suffered. She also implored to the Lord to have these sacrifices in acceptance. She also offered the Night Prayer, but in the state of sitting because she had no further power to stand up.2
The next day, the criminals decided to take the children and harem as captives to Kufa.The ladies however begged the criminals to make them pass by the dead bodies of Imam
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1- See Ibn al-Qirmani, Akhbar al-Duwal, p.108.
2- See baqir Sharif al-Qarashi, Hayat al-Imam al-Husayn, vol. 3,p.309.
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al-Husayn (a) and the other martyrs. When her eyes fell on the severed, headless body of Imam al-Husayn (a), Lady Zaynab shouted with a grief-stricken voice:
يا محمداه! صلي عليك مليك السماء! هذا حسين مرمل بالدماء مقطع الأعضاء, و بناتك سبايا!إلي الله المشتكي و إلي علي المرتضي و إلي فاطمة الزهراء و إلي حمزة سيدالشهداء. هذا حسين بالعراء , تسفي عليه الصبا, قتيل أولاد الأدعياء. واحزناه! واكرباه! اليوم مات جدي رسول الله! يا أصحاب محمداه! هؤلاء ذرية المصطفي يساقون سوق السبايا.
Oh, Muhammad! May the King of the Heavens bless you! This is Husayn! He is stained with his blood and his limbs are severed! And these are your daughters! They are taken captives! Complaining (about this) is only to Allah, to 'Ali al-Murtada (the Pleased One), to Fatimah al-Zahra', and to Hamzah the chief of martyrs. This is Husayn in the desert! Winds are blowing his body! He is beig killed by bastards! Oh, for my grief! Oh, for my bereavement! This day only has my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, died. Oh,companions of Muhammad! These are the descendants of al-Mustafa -the Divinely Selected Prophet- They are pushed like captives.
The only saved man, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin (a), could not control himself whin he saw the dead bodies of his father and the other martyrs thrown away in the desert. His grief was about to kill him, but Lady Zaynab, noticing his nephew's behavior, hurried to him and said:
ما لي أراك تجود بنفسك يا بقية جدي وأبي و إخوتي؟ لا يجزعنك ما تري, فوالله إن ذلك لعهد من الله إلي جدك و أبيك. و لقد أخذ الله ميثاق أناس من هذه الأمة لا تعرفهم فراعنة هذه الأمة, و هم معروفون في أهل السماوات, أنهم يجمعون هذه الأعضاء المتفرقة و هذه الجسوم المضرجة فيوارونها, و ينصبون بهذا الطف علما لقبر أبيكو سيد الشهداء, لا يدرس
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أثره ولا يعقو رسمه علي كرور الليالي والايام. و ليجتهدن أئمة الكفر وأشياع الضلالة في محوه و تطميسه, فلا يزداد أثره إلا ظهورا و أمره إلا علوا.
O the legacy of my grandfather, father, and brother : What for is it that I see you plead for death?1 Do not be sad for what you see. It is, by Allah to your grandfather and father. Allah has certainly made a convenant with some people, whom are not known by the tyrants on this earth but they are well known by the inhabitants of the Heavens, that they shall gather these severd organs and these bloodstained bodies to bury them. They shall also hoist in this land, al-Taff, a flag on the tomb of your father the master of the Martyrs. Throughout days and ages, the mark of this tomb shall never be obliterated and its figure shall not blotted out. Nevertheless, the heads of atheism and the spreaders of deviation shall exert all efforts for obliterating it, yet this shall make it more and more elevated instead.2
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1- According to Kamil al-Ziyarat, ImamAli Zayn al-Abidin answerd his aunt:
How should I not give myself up and be impatient while I see my master, my brothers, my uncles, my cousins , and my family members stained with blood, lying bare and looted without coffins and without buring, nobody can visit their bodies, and nobody can approach them, as if they are non-Arabs.
2- See Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Qummi, Kamil al-Ziyarat, p.447. This is however a long narration the rest of which is as follows:
Imam 'Ali Zayn al-'Abidin, then asked his aunt, "What is that covenant and what is that promise?"
Then Lady Zaynab reported:
Ummu-Ayman narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (s), once, visited the house of Lady Fatimah (a). She cooked for him a Harirah -a soup of oil and flour-, and 'Ali offered to him a dish of dates. I, Ummu-Ayman, then served them with a big cup of mild and butter. The messenger of
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Allah(s), 'Ali, Fatimah, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn ate from that dish and drank from that milk. Then, the Messenger of Allah (s) washed his hand and 'Ali poured water on them. After that, the Prophet (s) passed his hands over his face and glaced at 'Ali, Fatimah, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn a while, directer towards the Qiblah, and extended his began sobbing in a loud voice and teary eyes. He athen nodded his head down while his tear were shedding like rain. For this scene, Fatimah, 'Ali, al-Hasan, and al-Husayn (a), as well as I, Felt sorry but no one dared to ask him for the reason. But when that weeping took a long time, 'Ali and Fatimah asked him, "O Messenger of Allah: what for are you weeping? May Allah never make you weep. Your view has wounded our heart."
The Prophet (s) answered :
Brother, when I was looking at you, I felt the pleasure that I have never felt before. I thus thanked before.I thus thanked Allah for this grace. For the meantime, Archangel Gabriel descended and foretold :
Muhammad : Allah the Blessed and Exalted has known your feeling and has known your pleasure with your brother, your daughter, and your two grandsons. He therefore perfected for you this grace and congratulated you for this gift. He has decided to join their descendants, partisans, adherents, and them to you in Paradise. He has also decided not to separate them from you. He shall honor them in the same way as He shall honor you and shall give them the same graced He shall give to you until you will be pleased or even beyond your pleasure. This is for many misfortunes they will suffer and many adversities the will encounter at the hands of some people who claim, falsely, being embracing your religion and belonging to your ummah, while you and Allah disavow them. They will inflict massacres and killing upon your household and their areas and their graves will be very far from one another. This is what Allah has chosen for them and for you. You should then thank Him for this choice and satify yourself with His providence.
The Prophet (s) then commented:
I therefore thanked Allah, and satifies myself with that which He has decided for me regarding you.
Then Archangel Gabriel added :
Muhammad : after your demise, your ummah will persecute
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and discriminate against your brother ('Ali). Your enemies will annoy him. After all, he will be killed at the hads of the most evil and most vicious creature who will be regarded as same as the killer of the she-camel of Prophet Salih. That will happen in a country to where 'Ali will emigrate, and that country, later on, will be the center of his and his descendants' adherents. On this land, too, they will suffer the harshest ordeals and the most catastrophic misfortunes.
Regarding your grandson, al-Husayn, he, along with a noble group of his family members and the most virtuous men of your ummah, will be slain on the bank of the River Euphrates in a land named Karbala. For that, reason, your household and your enemies will unavoidably suffer too much agony and torment on the day whose agony is ceaseless and ordeals are never-ending (namely, Day of Resurrection). That land, namely Karbala, is the best area on this earth and the most scared. It is a part of Paradise, as well. On that day when your grandson and his household will slain and surrounded by groups of atheists and cursed ones, the earth shall be shaken, mountains shall swing and sway, waves of oceans shall move disorderly, and heavens shall quiver with their inhabitants, as signs of wrath for you and for your household, as well as the tremendous sin of violating your progeny and yours sanctity and the ingratitude for you concerning your progeny. All these creatures -the earth, mountain, oceans, and heavens will beseech to Almighty Allah to give them permission to stand for your wronged, persecuted descendants who are Allah's claim over humankind after you. As a result, Almighty Allah shall reveal to the heavens, earth, mountains, and oceans, saying:
"I am Allah the Omnipotent, the All-powerful. No fleer can escape Me and nothing can stop agaist My power. I am the worthiest of defending and avenging upon those criminals. I swear by My Supremacy and Majesty that I shall punish him whoever intruded upon My messenger and choice one by wronging his progeny, whoever violated his sanctity, whoever killed his descendants, whoever breached his pledge, and whoever persecuted his household. I shall punish all those with a punishment where with I have not punished any of My creatures."
By then everything in the heavens and the worlds will invoke Allah's curse against those who will wrong your progeny and violate your sanctity. When the noble group (who will fight with al-Husayn) depart life, Allah the All-mighty
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and Majestic will grasp their souls Himself. Angels from the Seventh heaven, having with them bowels of graments and odors from Paradise, will descend to the earth to wash their dead bodies with that water, dress them those garment, and camphorate them with that odor. Then, bodies. After that, Allah will forward some peoples from your ummah, who are not known by the atheists and have not participated in that bloodshed in deed, word, or even intention, to bury those dead bodies in deed, word, or even the Master of Martyrs (namely, al-Husayn) with a sign on that land. This sign will be the stamp of the right party and will be the cause of the faithful believers' success. On every day and night, one hundred thousand angels from each heaven will encircle that tomb, bless it, praise Allah there, seek Allah's forgiveness for anyone who visits it, and record the names of their fathers , tribes, and countries. They finally mark their forheads with a sign of the Light of Allah's Throne and will record there: This is the visitor of the tomb of the Master of Martyrs and son of the best Prophet.
On the Day of Resurrection, that sign will glow in their faces so flashily that it will snatch others' sights. From these signs, the visitors of al-Husayn's tomb will be recognized. On that day too, you, Muhammad, will stand between Angel Michael and me, 'Ali will be with us, and innumerable angels will be with us as well. We will know creatures until Almighty Allah save them from the ordeals and difficulties of that day. This is the decided award of Allah for those who visit your tomb or the tombs of your brother, 'Ali, and two grnadsons purely for sake of Allah. Some people who deserved Allah's curse and wrath will exert all efforts for obliterating and wiping out the place of that tomb, But, Allah will not give them an opportunity to do.
The Messenger of Allah (s) commented:
This perdiction has grived me and made me weep.
Then, Lady Zaynad added :
When 'Abd-al-Rahman ibn Muljim, the cursed, stroke my father to death, I went to him and asked whether the report that Ummu-Ayman had narrated to me true or not, My father said:
Ummau-Aymam has told the truth. I see coming that you, as well as your family's harem, will be captives in this country. You will be submissive and terrified, fearing lest people might carry you off by force. At that time, be patient and adhere to patience, for, on that day, there will be no disciple (o Allah) on the earth except you, your followers, and your partisans. I swear it by Him Who split the grains and created the souls. When he informed us of these news, the Messenger of Allah (s) added: on the same day as al-Husayn will be slain, Eblis the cursed will be overjoyed and will wander about the earth with his devils and afreets to declare: "O devils, Only today have we revenged ourselves on the descendants of Adam, attained our objective of wiping them out, and led them to the fire of Hell. Now, you must turn all your efforts towards filling people's minds with doubt towards al-Husayn and his companions, inciting them to bear hostility against them, and provoking them against anybody who shows loyalty to them (i.e. al-Husayn and his companions) in order that people's straying and atheism would be so guaranteed that none of them would be saved (on the Day of Resurrection)."
Even though he is the biggest liar, Eblis said the truth in that question. It is quite true that the good deeds of anyone who bears hostility against the Ahl al-Bayt are of no avail (no matter how great they are), and the sins, not the grand ones, of anyone who loves them and is loyal to them are of no harm.
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By these words, Lady Zaynab could tranquil her distressed nephew. She confirmed that these dead bodies would be buried and their tombs would be sign of perseverance on principles and sacrifice for the religion. The tomb of Imam al-Husayn (a), in particular, would be a never-ending cry in the face of every tyrand and would persist forever despite the very often attempts to obliterate it.
History has proved this fact; the Umayyad and 'Abbasid kings did their best to wipt out the tomb of Imam al-Husayn, but all their attempts failed, because it has not been only a place of burying a dead, yet severd, body, but it has been a scream in the face of everyone who tyrannizes or tries to persecute. It has been evidence on the fate of the wrong, and the bright endlessness of the right. The earth, too, has not accepted to hide its pride in inclluding these severed bodies who carried unmmatched, elevated souls that, in turn, carried the most honorable principles of humanity. In reality, this earth has never contained an area more honorable and excellent than that which included the body of Imam al-Husayn (a), father of freedom.
In modern history too, bombs and tanks could not stand against the elevated, lofty dome of the tomb of Imam al-Husayn, and it was very natural that those who gave orders to bomb that dome met the same fate of those who gave orders and mobilized all powers to fight the Imam (a).
Humanity too, must take pride in the anniversary of Imam al-Husayn's martyrdom so as to regain its true face and play the very role that the Creator has chosen for it.