المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

an eye for me, that nothing of their affairs may be hidden from me.

Then Hussein (peace be upon him) called for an inkwell and a sheet of paper, and wrote this testament to his brother Muhammad:

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. This is what Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib bequeaths to his brother Muhammad, known as Ibn al-Hanafiyya: that Hussein bears witness that there is no god but God alone, with no partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, who came with the truth from the True One; and that Paradise and the Fire are real; and that the Hour is coming, with no doubt in it; and that God will raise up those who are in the graves. I did not set out in arrogance, nor in insolence, nor as a corrupter, nor as an oppressor. Rather, I set out seeking to reform the nation of my grandfather (peace be upon him and his family). I wish to enjoin what is good and forbid what is wrong, and to follow the way of my grandfather and my father Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). So whoever accepts me by accepting the truth—then God is most worthy of the truth; and whoever rejects this from me, I shall be patient until God judges between me and the people with the truth, and He is the best of judges. This is my testament to you, my brother, and my success comes only from God; upon Him I rely and to Him I turn.

He said: Then Hussein (peace be upon him) folded the letter and sealed it with his seal, and handed it to his brother Muhammad. Then he bade him farewell and departed in the dead of night (1).

Muhammad ibn Abi Talib said: Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni narrated in the Book of Epistles, by his chain of transmission from Hamza ibn Humran, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: We mentioned the departure of Hussein (peace be upon him) and the staying behind of Ibn al-Hanafiyya, and Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) said: O Hamza, I shall tell you a tradition you will not ask about again after this sitting of yours. When Hussein parted to set out, he called for a sheet of paper and wrote upon it:

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. From Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib to the Banu Hashim. Now then: whoever among you joins me will be martyred, and whoever stays behind will not attain victory. Peace be upon you.

He said: Our Sheikh al-Mufid related, by his chain of transmission to Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: When Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) journeyed from Medina, troops of marked angels met him, spears in their hands, upon

noble steeds from the steeds of Paradise. They greeted him and said: O Proof of God over His creation after your grandfather, your father, and your brother! God Almighty reinforced your grandfather with us on many occasions, and God has reinforced you with us. He said to them: The appointed time is my grave and my plot of land where I shall be martyred—it is Karbala. When you reach it, come to me. They said: O Proof of God! Command us; we hear and obey. Do you fear any enemy who may meet you, that we might be with you? He said: They have no power over me, and they shall not meet me with any harm until I reach my plot of land.

Then troops of the Muslim jinn came to him and said: O our master, we are your followers and your supporters. Command us with your order and whatever you wish. Were you to command us to kill every enemy of yours while you remain in your place, we would spare you that. So Hussein rewarded them well and said to them: Have you not read the Book of God revealed to my grandfather, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family): "Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you were in lofty towers," and the Almighty said: "Those for whom killing was decreed would have gone forth to their resting places"? And if I were to remain in my place, by what would these wretched creatures be tested? And by what would they be tried? And who would dwell in my grave at Karbala—which God chose on the day He spread out the earth and made it a stronghold for our followers, and a place of safety for them in this world and the next? But you shall be present on Saturday, the day of Ashura, at the end of which I shall be killed, and after me none of my family, my lineage, my brothers, or my household will remain unsought, and my head will be carried to Yazid—may God curse him.

The jinn said: By God, O beloved of God and son of His beloved, were it not that your command must be obeyed and that it is not permitted for us to oppose you, we would kill all your enemies before they reached you. So he (the blessings of God be upon him) said to them: By God, we are more capable against them than you; but this is so that whoever perishes may perish upon clear evidence, and whoever lives may live upon clear evidence (1).

The eminent al-Majlisi, may mercy be upon him, said: I found in one of the books that when he (peace be upon him) resolved to depart from Medina, Umm Salama (may God be pleased with her) came to him and said: O my son, do not grieve me

with your departure to Iraq, for I heard your grandfather (peace be upon him and his family) say: My son Hussein will be killed in the land of Iraq, in a place called Karbala. He said to her: O mother, by God, I know that, and I shall be killed inevitably; there is no escape from it for me. By God, I know the day on which I shall be killed, and I know who will kill me, and I know the spot in which I shall be buried, and I know who among my household, my kin, and my followers will be killed. And if you wish, O mother, I shall show you my grave and my resting place.

Then he (peace be upon him) pointed toward Karbala, and the earth sank low until he showed her his resting place, his burial spot, the site of his encampment, his standing place, and his place of martyrdom. At that, Umm Salama wept bitterly and surrendered his affair to God. He said to her: O mother, God Almighty has willed to see me killed and slaughtered, wronged and assaulted; and He has willed to see my women, my kin, and my womenfolk driven away, and my children slaughtered and wronged, taken captive and bound, crying for help yet finding neither helper nor aid. How excellent are the words of the eminent scholar Sheikh Ali al-Jishi, may mercy be upon him, when he says:

In another narration: Umm Salama said: I have soil that your grandfather gave to me in a vial. He said: By God, I shall indeed be killed thus; and even if I do not set out to Iraq, they will kill me anyway. Then he took some soil

and placed it in a vial and gave it to her, saying: Place it with my grandfather's vial, and when they both flow with blood, know that I have been killed.

Then Sheikh al-Mufid, may mercy be upon him, said: So Hussein (peace be upon him) journeyed to Mecca, reciting: "So he departed from it, fearful and watchful. He said: My Lord, deliver me from the wrongdoing people" (1). And he kept to the main road. His household said to him: If only you would turn off the road as Ibn al-Zubayr did, so that pursuers would not catch up with you. He said: No, by God, I will not leave it until God carries out what He has decreed (2).

It is narrated from Sukayna bint al-Hussein (peace be upon him) that she said: We left Medina on a dark night, full of thunder and lightning, until we imagined that the sky had closed upon the earth (3).

And in a narration from al-Muntakhab, she (peace be upon her) said: When we left Medina, no one was more intense in fear than we, the household (4).

And in another narration Sukayna (peace be upon her) said: When we left Medina, there was no household more intense in grief nor in fear than the household of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family).

Glory be to God! The daughters of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) left Medina in fear, with their protectors and their men beside them. Would that I knew—what was their state on the day they were driven from Karbala to Kufa, and from Kufa to Syria, with not one of their men beside them as guardian, nor any of their protectors as defender? It is as though I see Zainab the Elder (peace be upon her) crying out in the language of her state:

Abdullah ibn Sinan al-Kufi narrated from his father, from his grandfather, who said, concerning how the Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) departed from Medina: I came out with a letter from the people of Kufa to Hussein (peace be upon him), who was in Medina at that time. I came to him, and he read it and understood its meaning, and said: Give me three

days. So I stayed in Medina, then followed him until he resolved to set out for Iraq. I said to myself: I shall go and see how the king of the Hijaz rides, and what his majesty and dignity are. So I came to the door of his house, and I saw the horses saddled, the men standing, and Hussein (peace be upon him) seated upon a chair, with the Banu Hashim gathered around him. Among them he was like the full moon on the night of its completion and perfection.

And I saw about forty howdahs, adorned with garments of silk and brocade. He said: Then Hussein (peace be upon him) ordered the Banu Hashim to mount their womenfolk upon the howdahs. While I was watching, a young man came out from the house of Hussein (peace be upon him)—tall of stature, with a mark upon his cheek, his face like the rising moon—saying: Make way, O Banu Hashim. And then two women came out of the house, trailing their hems upon the ground out of modesty before the people, surrounded by their maidservants. That young man went up to one of the howdahs, knelt upon his knees, took them by their upper arms, and mounted them upon the howdah. I asked some of the people about them, and it was said: One of them is Zainab, and the other Umm Kulthum, the daughters of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him). I said: And who is this young man? It was said to me: He is the moon of the Banu Hashim, al-Abbas, son of the Commander of the Faithful. Then I saw two little girls, as though God Almighty had created none like them; he placed one with Zainab and the other with Umm Kulthum. I asked about them, and it was said to me: They are Sukayna and Fatima, the daughters of Hussein (peace be upon him). Then another youth came out, as though he were the rising full moon, and with him a woman surrounded by her maidservants. That youth mounted her upon the howdah. I asked about her and the youth, and it was said to me: The youth is Ali al-Akbar, son of Hussein (peace be upon him), and the woman is his mother Layla, wife of Hussein (peace be upon him). Then a youth came out, his face like a sliver of the moon, and with him a woman. I asked about her, and it was said to me: The youth is al-Qasim, son of al-Hasan al-Mujtaba (peace be upon him), and the woman is his mother.

Then another young man came out, saying: Make way for me, O Banu Hashim; make way for the womenfolk of Abu Abdullah. So the Banu Hashim made way for him. And then a woman came out of the house, upon her the bearing of royalty, walking with tranquility and dignity, surrounded by her maidservants. I asked about her, and it was said

to me: As for the young man, he is Zayn al-Abidin, son of the Imam. Then they mounted the rest of the womenfolk and the children upon the howdahs. When they were all complete, the Imam (peace be upon him) called out: Where is my brother? Where is the ram of my battalion? Where is the moon of the Banu Hashim? Al-Abbas answered him: At your service, at your service, my master. The Imam (peace be upon him) said to him: Bring my steed to me, my brother. So al-Abbas brought the steed to him, with the Banu Hashim gathered around him. Al-Abbas held the stirrup of the horse until the Imam mounted. Then the Banu Hashim mounted, and al-Abbas mounted and bore the standard before the Imam (peace be upon him) (1).

How excellent are the words of Sayyid Muhammad Hussein al-Qazwini, may mercy be upon him, when he says:

The Third Gathering, of the Second Day
The Weeping of Fatima (peace be upon her)
and Her Grief over Hussein (peace be upon him)
It is found in some of the visitations of the Imams of the household (peace be upon them): Are the trials anything, O my masters, but those which clung to you? And the calamities anything but those which encompassed you? And the disasters anything but those that singled you out? And the crushing afflictions anything but those that struck you? The blessings of God be upon you, upon your souls and your bodies, and the mercy of God and His blessings. By my father and my mother, O family of the Chosen One! We possess nothing but to circle around your shrines and console your souls therein, over these great calamities that befell your sanctuary, and the grievous misfortunes that descended upon your courtyard—which planted festering wounds in the hearts of your followers, and bequeathed gashes to their livers, and sowed anguish in their breasts. We call God to witness that we have shared with your friends and supporters of old in the shedding of the blood of the oath-breakers, the deviators, and the renegades, and the killers of Abu Abdullah, the master of the youths of Paradise, on the day of Karbala—in intention and in heart—and in sorrow over having missed those stands in which they were present to support you. God is my Guardian; may He convey my greeting to you (1).

The eminent al-Majlisi, may mercy be upon him, said: I saw in one of the writings of a trustworthy contemporary: It is narrated that when the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) informed his daughter Fatima of the killing of her son Hussein and the trials that would befall him, Fatima wept bitterly and said: O my father, when will that be? He said: In a time devoid of me, of you, and of Ali. So her weeping grew intense, and she said: O my father, who will weep over him? And who will undertake to hold the mourning for him? The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: O Fatima, the women of my nation

will weep over the women of my household, and their men will weep over the men of my household, and they will renew the mourning generation after generation every year. And when the Day of Resurrection comes, you will intercede for the women, and I will intercede for the men. And everyone among them who weeps over the affliction of Hussein, we shall take by the hand and bring into Paradise. O Fatima! Every eye will be weeping on the Day of Resurrection except an eye that wept over the affliction of Hussein, for it will be laughing, rejoicing in the bliss of Paradise (1).

From Abu Basir, who said: I was with Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), conversing with him, when his son entered upon him. He said to him: Welcome, and embraced him and kissed him and said: May God belittle whoever belittles you, and take vengeance upon whoever wrongs you, and forsake whoever forsakes you, and curse whoever kills you; and may God be your Guardian, Protector, and Helper. For long has been the weeping of the women, and the weeping of the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the angels of heaven. Then he wept and said: O Abu Basir, when I look upon the children of Hussein, there comes over me—because of what was done to their father and to them—that which I cannot control. O Abu Basir, Fatima weeps for him and sobs, and Hell exhales a breath—and were it not that the keepers hear her weeping and have prepared themselves for that, fearing that a tongue of fire might leap out or its smoke spread and burn the people of the earth, [it would]—so they restrain it as long as she weeps, and rebuke it and bind fast its gates, fearing for the people of the earth; and it does not subside until the voice of Fatima subsides. And the seas nearly burst, flooding one into another, and there is not a drop of them but over it is appointed an angel; and when the angel hears her voice, he quells its surging with his wings and holds one part of it back from another, fearing for the world and those in it, and those upon the earth. And the angels remain in compassion, weeping at her weeping, calling upon God and beseeching Him; and the dwellers of the Throne and those around it beseech Him, and voices of angels rise in sanctifying God, fearing for the people of the earth. And were one of their voices to reach the earth, the people of the earth would be struck dead, the mountains would be uprooted, and the earth would quake with its people. I said: May I be your ransom, this is a tremendous matter. He said: Other than it is greater still—what you have not heard. Then

he said: O Abu Basir, do you not love to be among those who console Fatima? So I wept when he said it, and I could not utter a word, nor could I find my speech for weeping. Then he rose to his place of prayer to supplicate, and I left him in that state. I derived no benefit from food, and sleep did not come to me, and I awoke fasting and fearful until I came to him. When I saw him calmed, I was calmed, and I praised God that no punishment had befallen me (1).

From Abd al-Malik ibn Muqrin, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: When you visit Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), keep silence except for what is good. The angels of the night and the day, the guardian angels, come to the angels who are at the shrine and shake hands with them, but they do not answer them out of the intensity of weeping. So they wait for them until the sun declines and until the dawn breaks; then they speak to them and ask them about matters of heaven. But between these two times they do not speak, nor do they cease from weeping and supplication, nor do they distract them during these two times from their companions—for they are occupied with you when you speak. I said: May I be your ransom, what is it they ask them about? And which of them asks the other—the guardians or the dwellers of the shrine? He said: The dwellers of the shrine ask the guardians, because the dwellers of the shrine among the angels do not depart, while the guardians descend and ascend. I said: What do you think they ask them about? He said: When they ascend, they pass by Isma'il, master of the air, and perhaps they meet the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) there, and Fatima, al-Hasan, al-Hussein, and the Imams who have passed on among them, and they ask them about matters and about who among you was present at the shrine, and they say: Give them glad tidings on account of your supplication. So the guardians say: How shall we give them glad tidings when they cannot hear our speech? They say to them: Bless them and pray for them on our behalf, for that is the glad tidings from us. And when they depart, wrap them in your wings until they sense your place, for we entrust them to the One whose deposits are never lost. And were they to know what good lies in his visitation, and were the people to know that, they would contend over visiting him with swords, and would sell their wealth to come to him. And when Fatima (peace be upon her) looks upon them, with her a thousand

prophets, a thousand truthful ones, a thousand martyrs, and a thousand thousand of the cherubim, they aid her in weeping. And she sobs a sob such that there remains not an angel in the heavens but weeps in mercy at her voice; and she does not subside until the Prophet comes to her and says: O my daughter, you have made the people of the heavens weep, and distracted them from sanctification and glorification, so refrain that they may sanctify, for God will accomplish His command. And she looks upon those of you who are present, and asks God for every good thing for them. So do not abstain from coming to him, for the good in coming to him is more than can be counted (1).

Ibn Nama said: Sukayna, while in Damascus, saw in her dream that five steeds of light came forth, and upon each steed an old man, with the angels encircling them, and a young servant walking with them. The steeds passed on, and the servant came toward me and drew near and said: O Sukayna, your grandfather sends you his greeting. I said: And upon the Messenger of God be peace. O messenger, who are you? He said: A servant from the servants of Paradise. I said: Who are these elders who came upon the steeds? He said: The first is Adam, the chosen of God; the second is Abraham, the friend of God; the third is Moses, the one who spoke with God; the fourth is Jesus, the spirit of God. I said: Who is this one clutching his beard, falling once and rising again? He said: Your grandfather, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family). I said: And where are they heading? He said: To your father, Hussein. So I hastened in search of him, to tell him what the wrongdoers did to us after him. While I was thus, five litters of light came forth, in each litter a woman. I said: Who are these women coming? He said: The first is Eve, mother of mankind; the second is Asiya, daughter of Muzahim; the third is Mary, daughter of Imran; the fourth is Khadija, daughter of Khuwaylid. I said: Who is the fifth, the one placing her hand upon her head, falling once and rising again? He said: Your grandmother Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, mother of your father. I said: By God, I shall tell her what was done to us. So I caught up with her and stood before her weeping, saying: O mother, by God they denied our right; O mother, by God they scattered our gathering; O mother, by God they violated our sanctuary; O mother, they killed

by God, Hussein our father. She said: Hush your voice, O Sukayna, for you have burned my liver and cut the strings of my heart. This is the shirt of your father Hussein with me, which shall not leave me until I meet God with it. Then I awoke and wished to conceal that dream, but I told it to my family, and it spread among the people.

And in another narration the Sayyid, may mercy be upon him, said: Sukayna said: When it was the fourth day of our stay, I saw in a dream—and she recounted a long dream, saying at the end of it: And I saw a woman riding in a litter, her hand placed upon her head. I asked about her, and it was said to me: This is Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, mother of your father. I said: By God, I shall go to her and tell her what was done to us. So I hastened toward her until I caught up with her, and I stood before her weeping, saying: O mother, by God they denied our right; O mother, by God they scattered our gathering; O mother, by God they violated our sanctuary; O mother, by God they killed Hussein our father. She said to me: Hush your voice, O Sukayna, for you have cut the strings of my heart. This is the shirt of your father Hussein (peace be upon him), which shall not leave me until I meet God with it (1).

How excellent are the words of al-Sharif al-Radi, may mercy be upon him, when he says:

And he, may mercy be upon him, also said:

The Fourth Gathering, of the Second Day
The Weeping of the Imams (peace be upon them)
and Their Grief over the Imam Hussein (peace be upon him)
It is found in some of the noble visitations of the Imam Hussein (peace be upon him): I bear witness that your blood settled in the Abode of Eternity, and the shadows of the Throne shuddered for it, and all creation wept for it, and the seven heavens wept for it, and the seven earths, and what is in them and between them, and whoever moves about in Paradise and the Fire of the creation of our Lord, and what is seen and what is not seen... (2).

And may God have mercy on a certain poet who said:

Sheikh al-Saduq, may mercy be upon him, narrated from al-Mufaddal ibn Umar, from al-Sadiq Ja'far ibn Muhammad, from his father, from his grandfather (peace be upon them): that Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) entered

one day upon al-Hasan (peace be upon him). When he looked at him, he wept. He said to him: What makes you weep, O Abu Abdullah? He said: I weep for what will be done to you. So al-Hasan (peace be upon him) said to him: What will come to me is poison slipped to me, by which I will be killed; but there is no day like your day, O Abu Abdullah. Thirty thousand men will draw close to you, claiming they are of the nation of our grandfather Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), professing the religion of Islam, and they will unite upon killing you, shedding your blood, violating your sanctity, taking captive your offspring and your women, and plundering your baggage. At that, the curse will descend upon the Umayyads, and the sky will rain ash and blood, and everything will weep over you—even the wild beasts in the wastelands and the fish in the seas (1).

Sheikh al-Saduq, may mercy be upon him, narrated from Thabit ibn Abi Safiyya, who said: The master of the worshippers, Ali ibn al-Hussein (peace be upon them both), looked at Ubaydullah ibn al-Abbas ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and was moved to tears, then said: There was no day harder upon the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) than the day of Uhud, in which his uncle Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the lion of God and the lion of His Messenger, was killed; and after it the day of Mu'ta, in which his cousin Ja'far ibn Abi Talib was killed. Then he (peace be upon him) said: But there is no day like the day of Hussein (peace be upon him). Thirty thousand men drew close to him, claiming they were of this nation, each seeking nearness to God Almighty through his blood, while he reminded them of God and they took no heed, until they killed him in transgression, injustice, and aggression... (2).

It is narrated from Zurara, who said: Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) said: O Zurara, the sky wept over Hussein (peace be upon him) for forty mornings with blood, and the earth wept for forty mornings with blackness, and the sun wept for forty mornings with eclipse and redness, and the mountains broke apart and scattered, and the seas burst forth, and the angels wept for forty mornings over Hussein. And no woman among us applied henna, nor oiled herself, nor used kohl, nor combed her hair, until the head of Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad—may God curse him—came to us. And we have not ceased to be in tears ever since. And whenever my grandfather mentioned him, he would weep until

his eyes filled and ran down upon his beard, and whoever saw him would weep at his weeping, out of mercy for him. And the angels who are at his grave truly weep, and at their weeping weeps every angel in the air and the heaven (1).

From Ibn Kharija, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: We were with him, and we mentioned Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him)—and upon his killer be the curse of God—so Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) wept and we wept. He said: Then he raised his head and said: Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him) said: I am the slain of the tear; no believer remembers me but weeps. And he recounted the tradition (2).

From Abu Umara the chanter, who said: Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him) was never mentioned in the presence of Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) on any day but that Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) was not seen smiling that day until nightfall. And Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) used to say: Hussein is the tear of every believer (3).

Dawud al-Raqqi narrated, saying: I was with Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) when he asked for water. When he drank it, I saw that he was moved to tears, and his eyes brimmed over with tears. Then he said to me: O Dawud, may God curse the killer of Hussein (peace be upon him). There is no servant who drinks water and remembers Hussein and curses his killer but that God writes for him a hundred thousand good deeds, and removes from him a hundred thousand evil deeds, and raises him a hundred thousand degrees, and it is as though he had freed a hundred thousand souls; and God will raise him up on the Day of Resurrection with a heart at peace (4).

It is narrated that the Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) said to Abdullah ibn Hammad al-Basri concerning the affliction of Hussein (peace be upon him): For he is a stranger in a foreign land—he who visits him weeps for him, and he who has not visited him grieves for him, and he who has not witnessed him burns for him, and he who looks upon the grave of his son at his feet has mercy upon him—in a desert land, with no intimate near him and no kin. Then he was denied his right, and the people of apostasy banded against him until they killed him, abandoned him, and exposed him to the wild beasts, and prevented him from drinking the water of the Euphrates, which the dogs drink, and they squandered the right of

the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) and his testament concerning him and his household. So he came to rest, forsaken in his grave, slain among his kin and his followers, beneath layers of dust. His grave is made desolate in its solitude and its distance from his grandfather, the abode that none comes to but one whose heart God has tested for faith and made to know our right. Until he (peace be upon him) said: And my father told me that his place has not been empty, since he was killed, of one who prays over him—of the angels, or the jinn, or mankind, or the wild beasts. And there is nothing but that it envies his visitor and touches itself to him, and hopes for good in looking upon him, for his having looked upon his grave.

Then he said: It has reached me that a people come to him from the regions of Kufa, and other people besides them, and women lamenting him, and that is in the middle of Sha'ban. Among them is a reciter who recites, a storyteller who tells, a lamenter who laments, and a speaker who utters elegies. I said to him: Yes, may I be your ransom; I have witnessed some of what you describe. He said: Praise be to God, who placed among the people those who come to us, and praise us, and lament for us, and made our enemy those who revile them among our kin and others, who disparage them and find ugly what they do (1).

From Ibrahim ibn Abi Mahmud, who said: al-Rida (peace be upon him) said: Muharram is a month in which the people of the Age of Ignorance used to forbid fighting, yet in it our blood was made lawful, and in it our sanctity was violated, and in it our offspring and our women were taken captive, and fires were set ablaze in our tents, and what was in them of our baggage was plundered, and no regard was kept for the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) in our affair. Truly the day of Hussein has wounded our eyelids, made our tears flow, and humbled our honored one in the land of grief and affliction—bequeathing to us grief and affliction until the Day of Passing. So for the like of Hussein let the weepers weep, for weeping over him removes the greatest of sins. Then he (peace be upon him) said: My father, when the month of Muharram entered, would not be seen laughing, and melancholy would prevail over him until ten days of it had passed; and when the tenth day came, that day was the day of his calamity