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Tragedy of Karbala as reported by the Sunnis (Part VI)
[Humayd b Muslim reported:]
By God, later I visited him when he was ill. By God, other
than Whom there is no deity, I saw him drinking water without
being able to quench his thirst, and then vomiting. He would
cry out, "The thirst, the thirst!" Again he would drink water
without being able to quench his thirst, again he would vomit.
He would then burn with thirst. This went on until he died,
may God curse him.
When al-Husayn saw the extent of the number of troops encamped
with 'Umar b. Sa'd, may God curse him, at Ninawa in order to do
battle against him, he sent to 'Umar b. Sa'd that he wanted to meet
him. The two men met at night and talked together for a long time.
(When) 'Umar b. Sa'd went back to his camp, he wrote to Ubayd
Allah b. Ziyad, may he be cursed.
God has put out the fire of hatred, united (the people)
in one opinion (lit. word), and set right the affairs of
the community. This man, al-Husayn, has given me a promise
that he will return to the place which he came from, or he
will go to one of the border outposts - he will become
like any (other) of the Muslims, with the same rights and
duties as them; or he will go to Yazid, the Commander of
the faithful, and offer him his hand and see (if the
difference) between them (can be reconciled). In this (offer)
you have the consent (to what you have demanded) and the
community gains benefit.
When Ubayd Allah read the letter, he said: "This is the letter
about a sincere man who is anxious for his people."
"Are you going vo accept this from him," demanded Shamir b. Dhi
al-Jawshan, jumping up,
When he has encamped on your land nearby? By God if he was
a man from your land and he would not put his hand in yours,
whether he was in a position of power and strength (or) whether
he was in a position of weakness and impotence you would not
give this concession, for it would be (a mark) of weakness.
Rather let him and his followers submit to your authority.
Then if you punish them, (it will be because) you are the (person)
most appropriate to punish, and if you forgive them, you have
the right (to do so)."
"What you have suggested is good," replied Ibn Ziyad. "Your view
is the correct view. Take this message to 'Umar b. Sad and let him
offer al-Husayn and his followers (the opportunity of) submitting to
my authority. If they do that, let him send them to me in peace. If they
refuse, he should fight them. If he ('Umar b. Sa'd) acts (according to)
my instructions, then listen to him and obey him. However if he
refuses to fight them then you are the commander of the army (lit.
people), attack him, cut his head off and send it to me."
Then he wrote to Umar b. Sa'd:
I did not send you to al-Husayn for you to restrain
yourself from (fighting) him, nor to idle the time
away with him, nor to promise him peace and preservation
(of his life), nor to make excuses for him, nor to be an
intercessor on his behalf with me. Therefore see that if
al-Husayn and his followers submit to my authority and
surrender, you send them to me in peace. If they refuse,
then march against them to fight them and to punish them;
for they deserve that. If al-Husayn is killed, make the
horses trample on his body, both front and back; for he is a
disobedient rebel, and I do not consider that this will be
in any way wrong after death. But it is my view that you
should do this to him if you kill him. If you carry out your
command concerning him, we will give you the reward due to
one who is attentive and obedient. If you refuse, then we
withdraw (the command of) our province and army from you and
leave the army to Shamir b. Dhl al-Jawshan. We have given him
our authority.
Greetings.
Shamir b. Dhi al-Jawshan brought the letter to 'Umar b. Sad.
After he had brought it and read it, 'Umar said to him:
Shame upon you, what is this to you? May God never show
favour to your house. May God make abominable what you
have brought to me! By God, I did not think that you would
cause him to refuse what I had written to him, and ruin for
us a matter which we had hoped to set right. Al Husayn will
not surrender, for there is a spirit like (his) father's
in his body."
"Tell me what you are going to do," demanded Shamir. "Are you
going to carry out the governor's command and fight his enemy or are
you going to leave the command of the army to me?"
"No, (there is going to be) no advantage to you. I will carry that out
instead of you. you take command of the foot-soldiers."
'Umar b. Sa'd prepared to (do battle with) al-Husayn, peace be on
him, on the night of Thursday, 9th of the month of Muharram. (In the
meantime) Shamir went out and stood in front of the followers of al-
Husayn, peace be on him.
"Where are my sister's sons?" he demanded. Al Abbas,
Jafar, Abd Allah and Uthman, sons of Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be
on him, came forward.
"What do you want?" they asked.
"Sons of my sister, you are guaranteed security," he said.
"God curse you and curse the security which you offer without
offering itlto the son of the Apostle of God," the young men replied.
"Cavalry of God, mount and announce the news of Heaven (i.e.
death)," Umar b. Sa'd called out and the people mounted and he
approached (the supporters of al-Husayn) after the afternoon
(asr) prayer.
Meanwhile, al-Husayn, peace be on him, was sitting in front of his
tent dozing with his head on his knees. His sister heard the clamour
(from the enemy's ranks). She came up to him and said, "My brother,
don't you hear the sounds which are getting nearer?"
I have just seen the Apostle of God, may God bless him
and grant him peace, in my sleep," said al-Husayn, peace
be on him, as he raised his head. "He said to me: 'You are
coming to us.'
His sister struck at her face and cried out in grief.
"You have no (reason) to lament, sister," al-Husayn, peace be on
him, told her. "Be quiet, may God have mercy on you."
Then he turned to al-Abbas b. Ali "Brother, the enemy have
come, so get ready; but first, al-Abbas, you, yourself, ride out to
meet them, to talk to them about what they have (in mind) and what
appears (appropriate) to them and to ask about what has brought
them (against us)."
Al-Abbas went towards them with about twenty horsemen,
among whom was Zuhayr b. al-Qayn.
"How do you see (the situation)?" he asked. "What do you want?'
"The command of the governor has arrived that we should offer
you (the opportunity of) submitting to his authority, otherwise we
(must) attack you," they answered.
"Do not hurry (to do anything) until I have gone back to Abu Abd
Allah (al-Husayn) and told him what you have said, 'Abbas
requested.
They stopped (where they were) and told him: "Go to him and
inform him, and tell us what he says to you."
Al 'Abbas went galloping back to al Husayn, peace be on him, to
give him the information. While his companions remained
exchanging words with the enemy, trying to test them and dissuade
them from fighting against al-Husayn, peace be on him, (al-'Abbas)
told him what the enemy had said.
Go back to them," he, peace be on him, said, "if you can,
delay them until the morning and (persuade) them to keep
from us during the evening. Then, perhaps, we may be able
to pray to our Lord during the night to call upon Him and
seek His forgiveness. He knows that I have always loved His
formal prayer, the recitation of His Book and (making) many
invocations to Him, seeking His forgiveness.
Al Abbas went back to the people, and returned (after) being with
them, accompanied by a messenger on behalf of Umar b. Saed, who
had said: "We will grant you a day until tomorrow. Then if you
surrender, we will send you to our governor, Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad
but if you refuse we will not leave you (any longer)."
(After) he departed, towards the evening al-Husayn gathered his
followers around him.
[ Ali b. al Husayn, Zayn al Abidin, reported: ]
I went near to hear what he would say to them (even
though) at that time I was sick. I heard my father
say to his followers: I glorify God with the most perfect
glorification and I praise Him in happiness and misfortune.
O God, I praise You for blessing us with prophethood,
teaching us the Qur'an and making us understand the religion.
You have given us hearing, sight and hearts, and have made
us among those who give thanks (to You). I know of no followers
more loyal and more virtuous than my followers, nor of any
House more pious and more close-knit than my House. May God
reward you well on my behalf. Indeed, I do not think that there
will be (any further) days (left) to us by these men. I
permit you to leave me. All (of you) go away with the absolution
of your oath (to follow me), for there will be no (further)
obligation on you from me. This is a night (whose darkness) will
give cover to you. Use it as a camel (i.e. ride away in it).
His brothers and sons, the sons of his sisters and the sons of 'Abd
Allah b. Ja'far said:
We will not leave you to make ourselves continue living
after your (death). God will never see us (do) such a thing.
Al Abbas b. Ali, peace be on them, was the first of them to make
this declaration. Then the (whole) group followed him, (all) declaring
the same thing.
"Sons of 'Aqil" said al-Husayn, "enough of your (family) has
been killed. So go away as I have permitted you."
"Glory be to God," they replied, "what would the people say?
They would say that we deserted our shaykh, our lord, the
sons of our uncle, who was the best of uncles; that we had
not shot arrows alongside them, we had not thrust spears
alongside them, we had not struck swords alongside them.
(At such an accusation) we do not know what we would do.
No, by God, we will not do (such a thing). Rather we will
ransom you with our lives, property and families. We will
fight for you until we reach your destination. May God make
life abominable (for us) after your (death)."
Then Muslim b. Awsaja arose and spoke:
Could we leave you alone? How should we excuse ourselves
before God concerning the performance of our duty to your
By God, I will stab them with my spear (until it breaks),
I will strike them with my sword as long as the hilt is
in my hand. If I have no weapon (left) to fight them with,
I will throw stones (at them). By God we will never leave
you until God knows that we have preserved through you (the
company of His Apostle) in his absence. By God, if I knew
what I would die and then be revived and then burnt and then
revived, and then scattered, and that would be done to me
seventy times, I would never leave you until I met my death
(fighting) on your behalf. So how could I do it when there
can only be one death, which is a great blessing which can
never be rejected.
Zuhayr b. al-Qayn, may God have mercy on him, spoke:
By God, I would prefer to be killed and then recalled to
life; and then be killed a thousand times in this manner;
and that in this way God, the Mighty and Exalted, should
protect your life and the lives of these young men of
your House.
All his followers spoke in similar vein, one after the other. Al-
Husayn, peace be on him, called (on God to) reward them well and
then went back to his tent.
[ Ali b. al-Husayn, peace be on them, Zayn al Abidin reported: ]
I was sitting on that evening (before the morning of the day) in
which my father was killed. With me was my aunt, Zaynab, who was
nursing me when my father left to go to his tent. With him was
Juwayn, the retainer (mawla) of Abu Dharr al-Ghiffarl, who was
preparing his sword and putting it right My father recited:
Time, shame on you as a friend! At the day's dawning and the
sun's setting,
How many a companion or seeker will be a corpse! Time will
not be satisfied with any substitute.
The matter will rest with the Mighty One, and every living
creature will have to journey along my path.
He repeated it twice or three times. I understood it and realised
what he meant. Tears choked me and I pushed them back. I kept
silent and knew that tribulation had come upon us. As for my aunt,
she heard what I heard - but she is a woman and weakness and grief
are part of the qualities of women; she could not control herself, she
jumped up, tearing at her clothes and sighing, and went to him.
"Then I will lose (a brother)," Zaynab said to him. "Would that
death deprived me of life today, (for) my mother, Fatima, is dead, and
my father, 'Ah, and my brother, al-Hasan, peace be on them (all)."
"O sister,' al-Husayn said to her as he looked at her with his eyes
full of tears, " don't let Satan take away your forbearance.
(Remember:) If the sandgrouse are left (alone) at night, they will sleep
(i.e. let nature take its course)."
"O my grief, your life will be violently wrenched from you and that
is more wounding to my heart and harsher to my soul," she lamented,
and then she struck at her face. she bent down to (the hem of) her
garment and (began to) tear it. Then she fell down in a faint.
Al-Husayn, peace be on him, got up and bathed her face with water
Then he said to her:
Sister, fear God and take comfort in the consolation of God.
Know that the people on the earth will die and the inhabitants
of heaven will not continue to exist (for ever). For everything
will be destroyed except the face of God Who created creation
by His power (qudra); He sends forth creatures and He causes
them to return; He is unique and alone. My grandfather was
better than me, my father was better than me and my mother was
better than me. I and every Muslim have an ideal model in the
Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family.
By This and the like he tried to console her and he said:
Sister, I swear to you - and I (always) keep my oaths - that
you must not tear your clothes, nor scratch your face, nor
cry out with grief and loss when I am destroyed.
Then he brought her and made her sit with me. He went out to his
followers and ordered them to bring their tents (much) closer
together so that the tent-pegs came within the area of each other's
tents, and so that if they remained among their tents, the enemy could
only approach (them), from one side (for there would be) tents behind
them, and to their right and left. Thus (the tents completely)
surrounded them except for the one way which the enemy could come
against them.
(After that) he, peace be on him, returned to his place and spent the
whole night in performing the prayer, in calling on God's forgiveness
and in making invocations. In the same way, his followers performed
the prayer, made invocations and sought God's forgiveness.
[ Al Dahhak b. Abd Allah reported: ]
(A contingent of) Umar b. Sa'd's (continually) passed us keeping
watch over us while al-Husayn, himself, recited:
Let not those who disbelieve think that our giving them a
delay is better for their souls. We give them a delay only
that they might increase their wickedness. They shall have
a disgraceful punishment. God does not leave the believers
in the situation you are in until He has made the evil
distinct from the good. [ Quran III, 117/8 ]
A man called 'Abd Allah b. Samir, (who was) among those
horsemen heard that. He was given to much laughter, and was a brave
fighter, a treacherous knight and a noble. He cried out: "By the Lord
of the Ka'ba, we are the good, we have been distinguished from you."
"O terrible sinner," cried Burayr b. Hudayr, "has God made you
one of the good?"
"A curse on you, whoever you are?" he shouted back.
"I am Burayr b. Hudayr," he replied. And they both cursed each
other.
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