Husain Purchases the Site for the Graves of the Martyrs
THE HOLY IMAM gathered the people of the surrounding places, the owners of the plain of Karbala, and purchasing the land from them gifted the same to the people. Addressing the males among them he said:-
"On the Tenth day of this month ye shall see us lying here slain, our bodies lying on the plain with our heads severed and taken away. I request you to kindly bury us, and when our devotees come to visit our graves, hold them in humour as your guests and point out to them the places of our burial."
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He then addressed the ladies:
"0' Virtuous ladies! If your husbands, fearing the wrath of Yazid do not bury us, you kindly encourage them to do it or do it yourselves."
The Holy Imam then turned to the young children in the gathering and addressing them said:
"0' Innocent ones! If your parents, out of fear of the wrath of the Ruler, do not bury us, you may, by way of playing bring some mud in your laps and throw it upon our bodies and hide them."
The appeal was so touching that the whole gathering wept.
Arrival of Yazid's Forces
THE BRUTE IBNE-ZIAD at Kufa got the information of Husain's getting out of the control of Hur and also learnt that the.helpless Imam had camped near the River Euphrates. Regiment after regiment began to pour in on the plain of Karbala from all sides and ultimately the enemy's forces compelled Husain to shift his camp from the bank of the river to the interior of the burning desert. Husain's brother, the lion-hearted Abbas, objected to this demand from the enemy, claiming priority of occupation and the right of the son of the Holy Prophet, the Holy Imam, to stay where he had first camped. When the enemy wished to march towards the Holy Imam's camp, the brave Abbas at once drew his sword and stood firm and shouted to the men:
"One step forward if ye advance, ye shall lay headless there."
Knowing the bravery, valour, and prowess of the valiant son of Ali, the Lion of God, none cared to step forward. But Husain called his Brother saying:
"Brother Abbas! Let not bloodshed be initiated from our side. Let them occupy any place they like. They call themselves my Grandfather's followers. Let them enjoy every comfort they want. We shall suffer for them, being away from the water. When God is with us, Brother, what if, the river is far away from us."
With these words, the Holy Imam, in order to avoid bloodshed, issued orders to shift this camp into the interior of the burning desert and it was immediately done.
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Yazid's Army at Karbala
THE REPORTED STRENGTH Of the brutal forces that were sent by Yazid to martyr the Holy Imam at Karbala.
According to Abu-Mikhnaf the total strength of Yazid's army at Karbala was 80,0oo of Kufees excluding the Syrians and the Hijazi forces. The first one who left for Karbala with his army
on behalf of Yazid was Omar-e-Sa'd, with 6,000 men
Following Omar went Sinan ibne Anas with 4,000 =
Orwatibne gals with 4,000 =
Shees bin Rub'ee with 4,000 =
Shimre-zil Jaushan with 4,000 =
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22,000
Arqam-ibne Ziad enrolled further 22,000 men
Yazeed ibne Rikabe Kalbi 2,000 =
Haseen bin Nameer ibne Askooni 4,000 =
Ma'zani 3,000 =
Nasre Ma'zani 2,000 =
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33,000
This is according to the unanimous report of the Historians. Biharaul-Anwar, V. I0 p. 182.
Abu Mikhnaf p. 32.
Tarique-Asame-Kufee 269.
No Room for any Criticism left
IF THE HOLY Imam had stayed at Madina and got slain there, it would have been said, why did he not migrate to Mecca to take shelter in the Great Sanctury there? He did go to the Ka'ba and if he had stayed there to be killed by Yazid's agents, it would have been said why did he not leave the holy place to avoid bloodshed in the Great Sanctuary ? Husain left Mecca too, even though it was the very eve of the pilgrimage. And if he had gone to Kufa it would have been said why did he go to a place where his Deputy Muslim had been killed, and when he knew the situation there. Husain avoided going to Kufa. Hur's offer, if Husain had rejected, it would have been said why did he refuse to escape when the enemy's agent himself offered the opportunity to do it. Husain availed also of the opportunity given by Hur. Now when the enemy
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became cruel, heartless and aggressive, he avoided bloodshed by shifting his camp into the interior of the desert, abandoning the bank of the river to the enemy.
Husain besieged at Karbala
WHEN THE WHOLE plain of Karbala was full with Yazid's regiments and the Holy Imam's camp was totally surrounded by the enemy's forces, Ibne-i-Sa'd the Commander of the Brute's armies met Husain on the banks of the River and demanded 'Bait' on behalf of the tyrant Yazid and said:
"If you pay homage to Yazid, everything will go well for you and whatever worldly comforts and privileges you desire for, will be at your disposal. Otherwise, it will end in a wholesale massacre of yourself and all your dear ones here."
Husain firmly refused to pay the 'Bait' saying:
"Tell Yazid to tempt with the worldly comforts those who are after this World. I am the Imam, the Representative of the Apostle of God. I shall never yield to the one who believeth not in God and who delieth the Word of the Lord, in word and deed, and who spreadeth godlessness on the earth. Let any calamity befall me and my dear ones, the will of the Lord shall be done. Husain will cheerfully meet any catastrophe but never surrender Truth to falsehood."
Water Supply to Husain's Camp Cut Off
AT LAST ON the 7th Muharram 61 A.H. (October 68(:) A.D.) the Commander of Yazid's forces received orders to cut off all sources of supply to the Holy Imam's camp and not to allow even a drop of water to reach any of the inmates therein. It can better be imagined than described what the condition of Husain's camp would have been under the scorching Arabian sun. The camp was in the midst of the burning desert, with the heat-waves blowing from all sides. The unavailability of water, with nothing to feed even the young children, the wriggling of the babies for milk which the poor mothers, who were themselves suffering from the killing thirst, could not give, caused distress. What a torturous situation it must be, and how did those Holy ones suffer all these unbearable
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tortures, it is very difficult for any human mind to conceive, but all these are facts which the Holy Imam and his godly companions suffered with wonderful fortitude and patience. Over and above all these tortures, the sight of the enemy's forces preparing all around for the massacre and a whosleale destruction was there, before the ladies and the children in the besieged camp.
In short, the torture of thirst which actually began from the 7th Muharram and the sufferings of the Imam with his companions, including the young children and the babies, could not be described here. The sufferings of the Holy ones for the sake of Truth can better be imagined than described.
Abbas, the brave, who was next only to the Holy Imam in charge of the Holy Imam's camp, after a very strenuous fight with the enemy at the river, got a sack of water but when the sack filled with water was placed before the thirsty children, the poor innocents not waiting till it was properly opened, and not knowing how to open the sack, rushed to it and fell upon it, one over the other, in the haste to at least cool their burning bodies. But alas! the knot at the mouth of the sack gave way to the pressure and the whole water flowed away on the sand. It can be imagined what the feelings of despair and disappointment of the poor children and the helpless mothers would have been, and how disappointed the brave son of Ali, who got the water, would have felt at the loss of the water which he could get for the poor children and the inmates of the camp after so much of fight with the enemy guarding the banks of the river. Attempts to dig a well were also made but in vain, for instead of water, stones came out. The Holy Imam preached patience and fortitude to every one at each disappointment and torture, saying:
"Be ye all cheerful and always surrender to the will of the All-Merciful Lord, for Me end of all these trials is at hand and the water of Paradise awaiteth there to quench your thirst."
Enemy Decides to Attack
ALL EFFORTS OF the enemy through temptations, promises, persecutions and tortures, to persuade the Holy Imam, to yield to
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Yazid were in vain. Even the killing heat and the thirst of three continuous days suffered by himself, his faithful companions, the helpless ladies and even the innocent infants and the babies, could not move the Holy Imam to effect the least change in the strength of his will to re-establish the Truth paying any price the task might demand. On the gth day of Muharram, the enemy's forces advanced towards the camp of the helpless Imam to effect a wholesale massacre of all the inmates therein. Husain sent word to the enemy's Commander, Ibna-i-Sa'd through the brave Abbas with the request for a night's time to spend it in his last prayers to the Lord which was at first refused but ultimately with much reluctance granted.
The Holy Imam and Ibna-i-Sa'd confer
THE HOLY IMAM sent for the enemy's Commander Ibna-i-Sa'd and proposed three honourable conditions:-
"Leave me, and I shall quit the Muslim Empire with my whole family and children, and live in some non-muslim lands. I shall go away to Yeman or to Iran or to the far off Hind (i.e., India)."
The tyrant answered:-
"It can never be so."
Husain said:-
"Will you at least allow to have some water for the helpless ladies and the innocent babies who are dying of thirst in my camp?"
The tyrant replied:
"First pay 'Bait' (allegiance) and then take the water from the river."
Husain at last said:-
"Ibna-i-Sa'd, why dost thou destroy the house of the Holy Prophet? If the whole world were to be given to me to rule over, I shall never yield to the tyrant."
Husain had done the best possible to avoid bloodshed, but every offer for a peaceful settlement was rejected and the surrender to Yazid was insisted upon. Husain then decided to fight the might of the Devil for the truth and to surrender his all in the way of the
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Lord and to demonstrate to the human race what Bravery, Steadfastness, Patience and Fortitude, even in the worst of the painful sufferings, those who really love God should put up with to defend the Truth and uphold it.
When all efforts through exhortations to the enemy's forces proved futile and the only alternative left was to fight for the cause of Truth, the Holy Imam decided first to prove the miraculous strength and the matchless prowess the godly ones possessed, and how bravely the huge host of the enemy could be resisted, and then to surrender himselfand his dear ones to drink the cup of martyrdom and to fulfil the Covenant of the Lord to save the Truth for all times Husain asked Ibna-i-Sa'd: "Will you at least agree to conduct tomorrow's battle in single combats between one from either side ?" Ibna-i-Sa'd consented but the treacherous Brute did not keep to his promise.
The Night Before the loth Muharram
THE NIGHT FOLLOWING the ninth day of Muharram presented a
unique spectacle which has no parallel in the history of the world. A detailed description of the scene of that night in Karbala, requires at least a separate chapter. However, only a few important events of the dreadful night are briefly related here.
Since his arrival at Karbala on the znd Muharram, the Holy-Imam used to gather all those who had accompanied him from Mecca, and address them after every night prayer, advising them to leave him to his own fate and to return to their homes, giving them every assurance that the consequences of his journey would be quite a different one from what had been imagined by them
to be. It is reported that hearing the Holy Imam announcing the ultimate end of his journey, the people began deserting him in groups.
The Final Shifting
HUSAIN HAD TO offer the sacrifice which had been termed by God Himself as Vibhe-Azeem' the Great Sacrifice (37:104-108). The purity of his body and the divinity of his own soul was unquestionable, but those whom he had to offer along with himself in the way of the Lord, had to be of some purity worthy to be blessed with the martyrdom. There were the good and the bad ones, mixed
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up, in his camp but what he needed was only a pure and clean stuff to be presented to God along with himself. Many who had accompanied him with selfish intentions, had deserted him, and of those still left, the Holy Imam wanted to effect a final shifting so that only those who desired nothing but the pleasure of the Lord, might remain to accompany him in his resignation to the Divine will, to resist against the onslaught of the falsehood of the Devil. At last on the 9th Muharram, soon after the enemy's consent to wait till the following morning, the Holy Imam, after the 'him' or the night prayers summoned the remaining people and addressed them thus:
"Brothers! You are sadly mistaken if you have hoped that tomorrow's battle will bear any fruit for you to fulfil any of your worldly ambitions. I tell you now openly that I will be mercilessly butchered. My Brother Abbas will lose both his hands and die on the banks of the river. My eighteen-year-old son Ali-e-Akbar will die by the lance pierced through his breast. Qasim, no, nephew, will be killed and be trampled under the hooves of the enemy's cavalry. And similarly, every one of my companions who will remain with me here, be he a relative or a friend of mine, will be rolling in his own blood and ultimately be slain. I tell you, not even my baby son Ali-e-Azgher will he spared; he will receive an arrow on his tiny neck in my own arms and pass away. Only my son Ali who is sick, will survive to suffer the worst of tortures along with the people of my family. Friends! you need not worry yourself about the 'Bait' or the allegiance you have paid me. I release you from the oath. You leave me to my fate and save yourselves. They are only after my life. The night is dark and you can easily escape."
At the end of his speech, the Holy Imam asked his brother Abbas to put out the lamp in the tent so that people may walk away in the darkness without being ashamed of being seen by him.
It is reported that as soon as the lamp was put out, all those who had accompanied the Holy Imam from Mecca in their vain hopes of making their own fortune, began to desert the Holy Imam in batches and when the lamp was again lit after a while, there were
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left only a few here and there, and those who remained constituted the goldly band of the Holy Seventy-two who stood fast by the Holy Imam in the battle for Truth to save the human race against its falling into the abyss of falsehood.
This small band of godly souls, pure in their spirit and sincere in their desire to fight and fall in the way of the Lord, spent the night in prayers reciting audibly the Holy Qur'an and rejoicing in the hope to drink the fast-approaching cup of martyrdom the following morning. Everyone anxiously waited for the break of dawn, to lay down his life in the way of the Lord in supporting the cause of Truth. The ladies were preparing their young children to be sacrificed along with the Holy Imam in upholding the cause of the Lord. The noble mothers of the family of the Holy Prophet were busy advising their young sons to be steadfast in facing the might of the Devil in defence of the right, and to lay down their lives cheerfully and thus to drink the cup of martyrdom in the cause of the correct guidance of the Human Race.
Abbas the Brave, Guards the Camp of the Holy Imam
THE CAMP OF the Holy Imam contained the ladies and the children of the House of the Holy Prophet. Apprehending a surprise attack from the enemy's forces which consisted of people who had turned treacherous to the Holy Imam and his family, a ditch was dug around the camp and fire was lighted the whole night and Abbas the Brave, guarded the camp in a vigil the whole night walking around it with his sword in his hand mindful of the safety of the Holy Imam and the inmates of the camp, with a vigilant eye on the ranks of the enemy.
