Mouood Mouood English Edition
“Verily, by Allah! May your uncle be your ransom! You are one of them, who shall be martyred along with me after having fallen prey to a severity, and my (infant) son Abdullah (Ali Asghar) shall be martyred too.”
Hearing this Qasim asked, “O dear uncle! Then will the enemies reach the womenfolk so as to kill the suck¬ling child Abdullah”? Husayn replied,
“Abdullah will be killed at that time when I, absorbed in intense thirst, will come back to the tent and ask for water or honey and nothing will be available. Then I will request my child to be brought to me so that I may kiss his lips (and thereby find relief). The child will be brought and placed in my hands, and a lewd man (from among the enemies) will shoot an arrow upon his neck and the child shall raise a cry. Then his blood will get filled in my palms and I shall raise my hands to the heavens and say: O Allah! I forebear and leave the accountability to You. The lances of the enemies will then be hurriedly thrown at me, while the fire in the trench dug behind the tents shall be roaring. Then I will attack them, the moment being the most bitter of my life. Then whatever Allah wills shall come forth.”
Saying this Imam started weeping and we too could not control our tears, the voice of lamenting arose from the tents of the Progeny of the Prophet of Allah (S).
Qutubuddin Rawandi relates from Abu Hamza Sumali that Imam Ali Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) said that I was along with my father (Imam Husayn) on the night preceding his martyrdom. Then he addressed his companions thus,
“Consider this night to be an armor for yourselves, for these people desire me and after having killed me they will not turn towards you, while you are pardoned and are capable.”
They replied, “By Allah! This shall never ever happen.”
Imam said,
“All of you will be killed tomorrow and no one will be spared.”
They replied, “Praise be to Allah who has bestowed grace upon us to be martyred along with you.” Then Imam prayed for them and told them to lift up their heads. They did so and saw their status in Paradise, and Imam showed them one after the other their places therein. Thus every one was forwarding his face and chest facing the swords, so as to enter the status in Paradise.
It is related in the Amali of Shaikh Saduq from Imam Ja’far as Sadiq (a.s.), who says that after the discourse of the Imam with his companions, he ordered a trench to be dug around his army. The trench was dug and filled with firewood. Then Imam ordered his son Ali Akbar (a.s.) to fetch water, accompanied by thirty horsemen and twenty-foot soldiers, while they were in the state of severe fright and Imam was reciting the following couplet:
“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.”
(Irshad) Imam Ali Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) says that on the night preceding the martyrdom of my father, I was awake while my aunt Hazrat Zaynab (a.s.) was attending to me. My father was alone in his tent, while Jaun, the retainer of Abu Zarr Ghifari, was with him and was preparing his sword and putting it right. My father was reciting the following couplets:
“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 thrice and I understood what he meant and sorrow befell me but I bore it silently and realized that a calamity had befallen us. My aunt Zaynab (a.s.) heard it too, sensitiveness and anxiety being the qualities of women, she could not control herself and tearing her clothes ran bareheaded towards my father and said, “Woe unto this tragedy! I wish death overtakes me. Today my mother Fatima (a.s.), my father Ali (a.s.) and my brother Hasan (a.s.) have departed from me. O successor of the departed ones! O source of hope for the alive ones!”
Imam’s eyes became full of tears and then he said,
“If a sand grouse (a type of a bird) is freed at night, it will sleep in peace.”
Then she said, “Woe! Then will you be violently and helplessly killed? While this hurts my heart and is severe upon my life.” Then she started beating her face and fell unconscious. Then Imam arose and sprinkled water [refer Note No. 52] over her face and said,
“O dear sister! Control yourself and desire consolation from Allah alone. And know that everyone upon the earth shall die, while the dwellers of the heavens too shall perish, except the Face (Self) of Allah. Allah who has created with His power, and will make them alive again, and they shall all return to Him, while Allah is Unique. My grandfather was better than me, my father was better than me, and my mother was better than me. It is obligatory upon me and all Muslims to follow the example of the Prophet of Allah (S).”
Then he consoled her with similar words and said,
“O dear sister! I request you on oath that when I am martyred, do not tear off your collar, nor beat your face or lament upon me.”
Then he brought Hazrat Zaynab (a.s.) and made her sit near me and then went to his companions. Then he commanded them to fasten their tents closer to one another and tie the tent-pegs together so as form a circle around them, and block the enemies entrance from three sides so that they could not confront them except from the front. Then Imam returned back to his tent and spent the entire night in Prayers, supplications and repentance in Allah’s Audience, and his companions followed his example too and started supplicating.
It is narrated that the voices of their supplication sounded like the humming of the bees. They were engrossed in genuflexion (Rukoo’ or bowing in Prayer), Sujood (prostration), standing and sitting. While this was the normal practice of Imam Husayn (a.s.), abundance of Prayers, the excellence of morals etc. Imam was similar to what has been quoted by Imam al Mahdi (a.t.f.s.) in Ziyarate Nahiyah:
“The deliverer of the Holy Qur’an, and the arms of the nation (ummah),
And the one who endeavored in the way of (Allah’s) obedience,
Protector of the oath and covenant,
You hated the path of the transgressors,
A Bestower upon those in trouble,
One who prolonged the Rukoo’ and Prostration,
(you remained) Abstinent from the world,
You always viewed it with the sight of the one who has to leave it soon.”
