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Tragedy of Karbala as reported by the Sunnis (Part VII) In the morning al Husayn, peace be on him, mobilised his
followers after the morning prayer.

He had with him
thirty two
horsemen and forty foot-soldiers.
He put Zuhayr b.
al-Qayn
in
charge of his right wing and Habib b.
Muzahir in
charge of his left
wing, and he gave his standard to his brother, al-Abbas.

They
positioned themselves with the tents at the rear.
He
ordered (the)
firewood and cane which was behind the tents to be left in a
ditch
which had been dug there and to be set on fire, fearing that
they would
attack them from the rear.

Umar b.
Sad began the morning of that day - it was
Friday, or
Saturday as some say - by mobilising his followers.

He
went out with
the men with him towards al-Husayn, peace be on him.

'Amr
b.
al-
Hajjaj was in command of his right wing, Shamir b.
Dhi
al-Jawshan
of the left wing, Urwa b.
Qays was in command of
the cavalry,
Shabath b.
Ribi of the foot-soldiers.

He
gave his standard to Durayd,
his retainer (mawla).

[ Ali b.
al Husayn, Zayn al Abidin, peace be upon
them, reported: ] When the cavalry began to approach al-Husayn, he raised his
hands and said:
O God,
it is You in W'hom I trust amid all grief.

You
are my
hope amid all violence.

You are my trust and
provision in everything that happens to me, (no matter)
how
much the heart may seem to weaken in it, trickery
may
seem to diminish (my hope) in it, the friend may
seem
to desert (me) in it, and the enemy may seem to
rejoice in it.

It comes upon me through You and
when
I
complain to You of it, it is because of my desire for
You,
You alone.

You have comforted me in (everything)
and
have revealed its (significance to me).

You are the
Master
of all grace, the Possessor of all goodness and
the
Ultimate Resort of all desire.

When the enemy began to move around the tent of al-Husayn,
peace be on him, they saw the ditch behind and the fire
burning the
firewood and cane which had been thrown in it.

(At
this) Shamir b.
Dhi al-Jawshan called out at the top of his voice:
Al-Husayn,
are you hurrying towards the fire (of Hell)
before
the Day of Resurrection?
Who is that? asked al-Husayn, peace be on him.

(It
sounds) like
Shamir b.
Dhi al-Jawshan?
Yes, (it is), they told him.

Son of a goat-herdess, you are more worthy to be burnt
by that,
he retorted.

Muslim b.
Awsaja wanted to shoot an arrow at him,
but al-
Husayn, peace be on him, stopped him from (doing) that.

Let me shoot at him he asked, for he is a
wicked sinner, one of
the enemies of God, and the great tyrants.

(Now)
God has made it
possible (to kill) him.

Do not shoot at him, ordered al-Husayn, peace be
on him, for I
am unwilling to begin (the fighting) against them.

Then al-Husayn called for his mount and mounted it.
He
called out
at the top of his voice:
O people of
Iraq,
and most of them (began to) listen to him
People, listen to my words and do not hurry (to attack me)
so
that I may remind you of the duties you have towards me
and so
that (by telling you the true circumstances) I may
free
myself from any blame in (your attacking me).

If
you
give
me justice, you will become happier through that.

If
you do
not give me justice of your own accord (as individuals),
then
agree upon your affairs (and your associates); let not
your
affair be in darkness to you.

Then carry (it) our
against
me and
do not reflect (any further) [X : 71].

Indeed my
guardian
is
God, Who created the Book, He takes care of the righteous
[VII :
196]
Then he praised and glorified God, and mentioned what God is
entitled to.

He called for blessings on the
Prophet, may God bless him
and his family, and on the angels and (other) prophets.

No
speaker
has ever been heard before or after him more eloquent in his
speech
than he was.

He continued:
Trace
back my lineage and consider who I am.
Then look
back
at
yourselves and remonstrate with yourselves.

Consider
whether it is right for you to kill me and to violate the
honour
of my womenfolk.
Am I not the son of the daughter
of
your
Prophet, of his testamentary trustee (wall) and his
cousin, the first of the believers in God and the man who
(first) believed in what His Apostle, may God bless him and
his
family, brought from his Lord? Was not Hamza, the lord
of the
martyrs, my uncle? Was not Ja'far, the one who flies
in
Heaven, my uncle? Have you not heard the words of the
Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, concerning
myself
and my brother: 'These are the two lords of the youths
of
theinhabitants of heaven'? Whether you believe what I am
saying
and it is the truth, for by God I have never told a
lie
since I learnt that God hated people (who told) them - or
whether you regard me as a liar, there are among you those
who,
if you
asked them, would tell you: Ask Jabir b.
Abd Allah
al-
Ansari, Abu Said al-Khudri, Sahl b.
Sad al-Saidi,
Zayd b.
Arqam
and
Anas b.
Malik to tell you that they heard these
words from
the
Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, concerning
myself
and my brother.

Is there not (sufficient) in this
to
prevent you shedding my blood?
If I understand what you are saying, interrupted
Shamir b.
Dhi
al-Jawshan, then I only worship God (very shakily) on
the edge.

I think that you worship God (very shakily) on seventy
edges,
said Habib b.
Muzahir.

For I
testify that you are right.
You do not
understand what he is saying.

For God has impressed
(ignorance)
upon your heart.

If you are
in any doubt about this,
al-Husayn, peace be on him, told them,
You
are in doubt that I am the son of the daughter of your
Prophet.

By God there is no son of a prophet other
than me
among
you and among the peoples from East to West.

Shame
on
you,
are you seeking retribution from me for one of your dead
whom I
have killed, or for property of yours which I expropri-
ated,
or for a wound which I have inflicted?
They did not say anything to him.

They he called:
Shabath b.
Ribi, Hajjar b.
Abjar, Qays b.
al-Ashath,
Yazid b.
al-Harith, didn't
you write: 'The fruit has ripened; the dates have grown
green; come to
an army which has been gathered for you'?
We don't know what you are talking about, said
Qays b.
al-Ashath.

Submit to the authority of your
kinsmen (the
Umayyads).

They have never treated you with
anything but what you
liked.
By God, I will never give you my hand like a man who
has been
humiliated; nor will I flee like a slave, said
al-Husayn, peace be on
him.

Then he called out,
O
Servants of God, I take refuge in my Lord and your Lord
from
your stoning.

[ XLIV : 20 ] I take refuge in my
Lord and
your
Lord from every haughty man who does not believe in the
Day of
Reckoning.

[ XL : 27 ]
He made his mount kneel and ordered 'Uqba b.
Sim'an
to tie its
reins.

They (the Kufans) began to advance towards
him (al-Husayn).
When al-Hurr b.
Yazid perceived that the people
were determined to
fight al-Husayn, peace be on him, he said to 'Umar: Are
you going
to fight this man?
Yes, he replied, it will be a terrible
battle, the least part of which
will be heads falling and severed hands flying (through the
air).

Haven't you any other way of getting what you
want?
If the matter rested with me, answered Umar,
I would do
(anything else), but your governor has refused (any
alternative).

Al-Hurr went and stood apart from the people.
With
him was a
man from his tribe called Qurra b.
Qays.
Qurra, have you watered your horse, today? he
asked.
No.
Do you want to water it?

[Qurra reported (later):] I thought that he (al-Hurr) was going to leave the battle,
and did
not want to be present at it but was unwilling to be seen
when he (left).

So I said: I have not watered it and I was going to
water it.
Then I
left him where he was.

By God,if he had told me
what he was
intending to do, I would have gone with him to al-Husayn,
peace be
on him.

He (al-Hurr) began gradually to draw closer to al-Husayn.
What do you want, Ibn Yazid?'' asked Muhajir b.
Aws,
but he did
not answer.

(Instead) a great shudder came over
him.

Your behaviour is suspicious, said Muhajir.
By
God, I have
never seen you act like this before.
If I was asked
who was the bravest
of the Kufans, I would not (normally) neglect (to mention)
you.

What
is this I see in you, (today)?
By God, I am giving my soul the choice between Heaven
and the
fire (of Hell), answered al-Hurr.
By
God, I will not choose
anything before Heaven, even though I am cut to pieces and
burnt.

(With that) he whipped his horse and (galloped over) and
joined al-
Husayn, peace be on him.

May I
be your ransom, son of the Apostle of God?, he said,
I was
your companion who stopped you from returning.
I
accompanied you along the road and made you stop in this
place.
But
I did not think that the people would refuse to
respond to what you have offered them and that they would
ever
come to this position I (which they have now come to)
with
regard to you.

By God, if I had I known that they
would
finish
up (by doing) what I am seeing (them do) to you, I
would
not have committed what I have committed against you.
I
repent to God for what I have done.
Will you accept
my
repentance?
Yes, replied al-Husayn, peace be on him,
God will forgive you.
So get down.

You will have (no) horseman better than me, (nor),
while I am on
foot, any foot-soldier, he said.

I will
continue fighting on foot to
the (bitter) end.
Do so, replied al-Husayn, peace be on him.
May
God grant you
mercy (though) what He has revealed to you.

He advanced, in front of al-Husayn, peace be on him, and
called out:
People
of Kufa, your mother(s) will be deprived of their
sons
and tears will come to their eyes.

Have you
summoned
this
righteous man (to come to you),then, when he has come
to
you, have you handed him over (to his enemies)? Did you
claim
that you would fight with your own lives for him, and
then
have you begun to attack him in order to kill him? You
have
laid hold of his life; you have seized his throat; you
have
encircled him on every side in order to prevent him
returning to God's broad land (i.
e.
the Hijaz).

He
has come
into
your hands like a prisoner who no longer has the power
to use
his own life and cannot defend it against harm.

You
have
prevented him, his womenfolk, his children and his
people
from (getting) the water of the Euphrates which Jews,
Christians and Majians may drink, and which the pigs and
dogs
of Sawad drink.

They (al-Husayn's family) are
likely
to die
of thirst.

How wickedly you have treated the
offspring
left
by Muhammad.
May God not give you water to drink on
the
Day of
Thirst.
Some of the foot-soldiers attacked him by shooting arrows at
him.
He went and stood in front of al-Husayn, peace be on him.
Durayd, 'Umar b.
Sad called out,
bring forward your standard
(for us).

He brought it forward.
('Umar) put an arrow in his
bow and let it
fly.

He said, (All of you) be witnesses of
who was the first to shoot.
The people began to shoot at each other and to come forward
(for
single combat).

Yasar, retainer (mawla) of Ziyad b.
Abi
Sufyan, came
forward (from Umar's army).
'Abd Allah b.
Umayr
(al-Kalbi) came
forward (from al-Husayn's ranks) to meet him.
Who are you? Yasar asked him, and (Ibn al-Kalbi)
gave him his
lineage.

I do not know you, (Yasar) answered.
Let
Zuhayr b.
al-Qayn or
Habib b.
Muzahir come out against me.

Son of a prostitute, you wanted to do single combat
with one of
the people, retorted Abd Allah b.
Umayr
(al-Kalbi).
With that (Ibn al-Kalbi) struck him with his sword until he
had
quietened him.
While he was occupied with striking
against him,
Salim, retainer (mawla) of 'Ubayd Allah b.
Ziyad,
attacked him (Ibn
al-Kalbi).

Al-Husayn's followers cried out (in
warning): The (other)
servant is closing in on you! (Ibn al-Kalbi) did not
notice (Salim)
until the latter was upon him.

With his left arm he
warded off Salim's
blow but the fingers of his hand were cut off.

Then
he turned on
(Salim) and struck him and killed him.
After (thus)
killing them both,
(Ibn al-Kalbl) came forward and recited:
If you
do not know me, I am Ibn al-Kalbl: I am a man of
bitterness and anger, I am not a weakling in the face of
disaster.

Amr b.
al-Hajjaj, with the Kufans under his
command, launched an attack
on the right wing of the supporters of al-Husayn, peace be on
him.

When
they drew near, the followers of al-Husayn, peace be on him,
knelt down
and pointed their spears at them.

The (attackers)
horses would not come
forward against the spears and they swung round to retreat.

The
followers
of al-Husayn, peace be on him, began to shoot arrows at (the
enemy),
killing
some of them and wounding others.

Abd Allah b.
Hawza, one of the Banu Tamim,
approached al-
Husayn's camp and the people called out to him, Where
are you
going, may your mother be deprived of you?
I am (in the right) advancing to a merciful Lord and an
intercessor
who is listened to (i.
e.
the Prophet), he
answered.

Who is that ? al-Husayn, peace be on him, asked
his followers.
Ibn Hawza al-Tamimi he was told.

O God, drive him into the fire! (al-Husayn)
exclaimed.
With that
his horse upset him in its stride and feli.
His
left leg was stuck in the
stirrups and his right leg was free.
Muslim b.
Awsaja
attacked him
and struck his right leg and cut it off.

The horse
galloped off
(dragging) him (along) and his head struck every stone and
clod of
earth until he died.

God hurried his soul to (Hell)
fire.
(More) fighting then broke out and more men were killed.
Al-Hurr b.
Yazid attacked the followers of 'Umar b.
Sa'd
and (as
he did so), he recited the words of 'Antara:
With
my charger's neck and breast thrust forward I will
launch
myself at them again and again until (the beast)
is
clothed in blood.
Yazid b.
Sufyan, from Banu al-Harith (of Tamim),
came forward
to meet him.

Soon al-Hurr killed him.

(In the meantime) Nafi' b.
Hilal came forward,
declaring:
I am the son
of Hilal.
I believe in the religion of Ali.
Muzahim b.
Hurayth came against him, crying,
I follow the
religion of Uthman.

Rather you follow the religion of Satan, Nafi
replied and
attacked and killed him.

You stupid fellows, Amr b.
al-Hajjaj
cried out to (his) men,
don't you realise whom you are fighting? (These)
knights of the
town are people who are seeking death.

Don't let
any of you go
forward to fight them in single combat.

They are
only few and their
time is running out.

If you only threw stones at
them, you would kill
them (eventually).

True, you've come to the right conclusion, 'Umar
b.
Sad said to
him.

Then he sent (the message) to the commanders
that none of their
men should fight in single combat.

Amr b.
al-Hajaj and his men launched an attack
against al-
Husayn, peace be on him, from the direction of the Euphrates.

They
fought together fiercely for a time.
Muslim b.
Awsaja
was struck
down, may God have mercy on him, (but) Amr and his men
withdrew.

When the dust settled, (al-Husayn's
followers) found
Muslim stretched out dying.

Al-Husayn, peace be on
him, walked
towards him and he was on the point of death.
Muslim, may God have mercy on you, said (al-Husayn), of
them
(the believers) is he who has accomplished his vow,
and of
them is he who waits; they have not changed at
all [
XXXIII : 23 ] Habib b.
Muzahir approached and said, Muslim,
your death is
hard for me to bear but I bring you good news of Heaven
(where you
are going).

May God bring you good news too, replied Muslim
in a weak
voice.

Even if I knew that I would follow you at this very
moment, I
would still like you to appoint me to carry out everything
which
concerns you.

Then the people came again against al-Husayn, peace be on
him.
Shamir b.
Dhi al-Jawshan attacked with his left
wing (and thrust at)
(al-Husayn's) left wing, but they stood firm against him and
forced
him away (with their spears).

Al-Husayn, peace be
on him, and his
followers were attacked on every side but the followers of
al-Husayn
fought fiercely.

Then their cavalry began to attack
and even though
they were only thirty-two horsemen, they did not attack any
side of
the Kufan cavalry without putting it to flight.

When Urwa b.
Qays saw that - he was in command of
the Kufan
cavalry - he sent word to 'Umar b.
Sad: Don't
you see what my
calvary is receiving today from this small number (of men)?
Send the
foot-soldiers and archers against them.

He sent the archers against them.
Al-Hurr b.
Yazid's
horse was
lamed.

He dismounted and began to shout:
You
have lamed my (horse) but I am the son of freedom and
braver
than a maned lion.

He struck out against them with his sword but a great number
came
against him.

Ayyub b.
Musarrih and
another of the Kufan horsemen
shared in killing him.

The followers of al-Husayn, peace be on him, continued to
fight
fiercely against the enemy until it was midday.

When
al-Husayn b.
Numayr - he was in command of the archers - perceived the
steadfastness of the followers of al-Husayn, peace be on him,
he
advanced against his supporters with five hundred archers so
that
they showered the followers of al-Husayn, peace be on him,
with
arrows.
They continued shooting at them until they
had lamed (most
of) their horses and wounded some of their men.
Then
they moved
against them and a fierce battle was fought between them for
some
time.

Shamir b.
Dhi al-Jawshan (also)
attacked them with his
followers but Zuhayr b.
al-Qayn with ten of the
followers of al-
Husayn (counter) attacked and drove them away from the tents.