المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

good treatment in return for obedience, and punishment for disobeying him and breaking away from his authority. Then he said: O people of Kufa, the Commander of the Faithful, Yazid, has appointed me over your land and set me as governor over your country, and he has commanded me to divide your spoils fairly among you, to grant justice to the wronged among you against those who wrong them, to secure the rights of the weak among you from the strong, to treat well whoever listens and obeys, and to deal harshly with the doubter. So convey my words to this Hashimite man, that he may beware of my wrath—and he came down. By the Hashimite he meant Muslim ibn Aqil (peace be upon him).

Sheikh al-Mufid, may God have mercy upon him, said: Ibn Ziyad advanced toward Kufa, accompanied by Muslim ibn Amr al-Bahili, Sharik ibn al-A'war al-Harithi, his retinue, and his household, until he entered Kufa wearing a black turban with his face veiled. Word had reached the people of Hussein's (peace be upon him) approach toward them, and they were awaiting his arrival. So when they saw Ubaydullah, they supposed he was Hussein (peace be upon him). He could not pass by any group of people without their greeting him and saying: Welcome, O son of the Messenger of God! You have come at the best of times. Thus he saw in their rejoicing over Hussein (peace be upon him) what grieved him. When they grew many, Muslim ibn Amr said: Stand back—this is the governor Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad.

He traveled on until he reached the palace by night, and with him was a crowd that had gathered around him, having no doubt that he was Hussein (peace be upon him). Al-Nu'man ibn Bashir had locked the palace against him and his close companions. Someone with him called out for them to open the door, and al-Nu'man looked down at him, supposing him to be Hussein (peace be upon him), and said: I implore you by God, withdraw! By God, I will not surrender my trust to you, and I have no desire to fight you. He gave no reply. Then he drew near, and al-Nu'man leaned out from the height of the palace and began speaking to him, saying: Open up—may it not be opened for you—for your night has been long! A man behind him heard this and turned back to the people of Kufa who had followed him supposing he was Hussein (peace be upon him), and said: O people! It is the son of Marjana, by Him besides whom there is no god! So al-Nu'man opened for him and he entered, and they slammed the door in the faces of the people, who dispersed.

When morning came, he called out among the people: Gather for the prayer! The people assembled, and he came out to them.

He praised God and extolled Him, then said: As for what follows, the Commander of the Faithful, Yazid, has appointed me over your country, your frontier, and your spoils, and has commanded me to grant justice to the wronged among you, to give to the deprived among you, and to treat well whoever listens and obeys, like a kind father—while my whip and my sword are upon whoever forsakes my command and breaks his covenant with me. So let every man fear for himself. Truth, not threat, will be the measure of you. Then he came down and took the chiefs and the people severely to task, saying: Write down for me the names of the chiefs, of those among you wanted by the Commander of the Faithful, of those among you who are Haruriyya, and of the people of doubt whose nature is opposition, hypocrisy, and discord. Whoever brings them to us is cleared, and whoever does not write down anyone for us must guarantee for us that none of those under his charge will oppose us, and that no transgressor among them will rise against us. Whoever does not do so forfeits all protection, and his blood and property become lawful to us. Any chief in whose charge there is found one of those sought by the Commander of the Faithful, whom he did not bring up to us, shall be crucified at the door of his house, and that division shall be struck from the stipend.

When Muslim ibn Aqil (peace be upon him) heard of Ubaydullah's arrival in Kufa, of the words he had spoken, and of how he had dealt with the chiefs and the people, he left the house of al-Mukhtar and went to the house of Hani' ibn Urwa, and entered it. The Shia began to come and go to him in Hani's house, hidden and concealed from Ubaydullah, and they urged one another to secrecy.

So Ibn Ziyad summoned a freedman of his called Ma'qil and said: Take three thousand dirhams and seek out Muslim ibn Aqil, and search for his companions. When you find one of them or a group, give them these three thousand dirhams and say to them: Use this to help you in fighting your enemy. Let them know that you are one of them, for if you give them this money they will trust you and rely on you, and will hide nothing of their affairs and news from you. Then go to them morning and evening until you learn the whereabouts of Muslim ibn Aqil and gain entry to him.

He did so, and came and sat beside Muslim ibn Awsaja al-Asadi in the Great Mosque while he was praying. He heard people saying: This man is pledging allegiance to Hussein (peace be upon him). So he came and sat

beside him until he finished his prayer, then said: O servant of God, I am a man of the people of Syria, upon whom God has bestowed love for the Household (peace be upon them) and love for those who love them. He feigned weeping for it and said: I have three thousand dirhams with me, with which I wished to meet a man of theirs who, I was told, has come to Kufa to receive allegiance for the son of the Messenger of God's daughter (peace be upon him and his family). I wished to meet him, but I found no one to guide me to him, nor do I know his whereabouts. Just now, while sitting in the mosque, I heard a group of believers say: This man has knowledge of the people of this House. So I have come to you that you may take this money from me and bring me to your leader, for I am a brother among your brothers and trustworthy to you. And if you wish, take my pledge to him before I meet him.

Ibn Awsaja said to him: I praise God for your having met me, for that has gladdened me, that you may attain what you love, and that God may grant victory through you to the Household of His Prophet, peace be upon him and upon them. It has grieved me that people came to know me in this affair before it was complete, out of fear of this tyrant and his might. Ma'qil said to him: Let it be nothing but good—take my pledge! So he took his pledge, exacting from him the most solemn oaths that he would be sincere and would keep the secret, and Ma'qil gave him what satisfied him. Then he said to him: Come and go to me at my house for some days, for I am seeking permission for you to see my leader. He began coming and going with the people, and sought permission for him until it was granted. Muslim ibn Aqil took his pledge and ordered Abu Thumama al-Sa'idi to take the money from him—he was the one who took charge of their funds and of what each of them gave to assist the others, with which he would buy them weapons. He was sharp-sighted and a horseman among the horsemen of the Arabs, and one of the leaders of the Shia. That man began coming and going to them, being the first to enter and the last to leave, until he understood what Ibn Ziyad needed to know of their affairs, and he would report it to him time after time. (1)

Ibn Shahrashub, may God have mercy upon him, said: When Muslim entered Kufa, he stayed in the house of Salim ibn al-Musayyab, and twelve thousand men pledged allegiance to him. When Ibn Ziyad entered, he moved from Salim's house to Hani's house in the dead of night, entering under his protection, and the people continued to pledge allegiance to him until

twenty-five thousand men had pledged to him. So he resolved to come out, but Hani' said: Do not be hasty. Now Sharik ibn al-A'war al-Hamdani had come from Basra with Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, and he fell ill and lodged in Hani's house for some days. Then he said to Muslim: Ubaydullah is coming to visit me, and I will draw out the conversation with him. So come out at him with your sword and kill him. Your signal will be when I say: Give me water to drink. But Hani' forbade him from this.

When Ubaydullah came in to Sharik and asked him about his illness, and his questioning grew long, and he saw that no one came out, Sharik feared the chance would slip away, so he began to say:

And in Maqatil al-Talibiyyin:

the cup of death in haste—let her drink it! (1) Ibn Ziyad grew suspicious and left. When he entered the palace, Malik ibn Yarbu' al-Tamimi came to him with a letter he had taken from the hands of Abdullah ibn Yaqtur, and in it was: To Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon them both). As for what follows: I inform you that such and such of the people of Kufa have pledged allegiance to you, so when this letter of mine reaches you, hasten, hasten, for all the people are with you and have no inclination or desire for Yazid. So Ibn Ziyad ordered him killed. (2)

Ibn Nama al-Hilli, may God have mercy upon him, said: When Ibn Ziyad left, Muslim came in with the sword in his hand. Sharik said to him: What kept you from the deed? Muslim said: I was about to come out when a woman clung to me and said: I implore you by God, do not kill Ibn Ziyad in our house! And she wept in my face, so I cast aside the sword and sat down. Hani' said: Woe to her! She has killed me and killed herself, and the very thing she fled from she has fallen into.

Abu al-Faraj said in al-Maqatil: Hani' said to Muslim: I do not wish for him to be killed in my house. He said: When Muslim came out, Sharik said to him: What kept you from killing him? He said: Two things—

One of them was Hani's dislike of his being killed in his house; and the other was a hadith the people related to me from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), that faith restrains treacherous assassination, so a believer does not assassinate. Hani' said to him: By God, had you killed him, you would have killed a sinful, dissolute, unbelieving man. (1)

Sheikh al-Mufid, may God have mercy upon him, said: Hani' ibn Urwa feared for his life from Ubaydullah, so he stayed away from attending his assembly and feigned illness. Ibn Ziyad said to those sitting with him: Why do I not see Hani'? They said: He is ill. He said: Had I known of his illness, I would have visited him. He summoned Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath, Asma' ibn Kharija, and Amr ibn al-Hajjaj al-Zubaydi—Ruwayha bint Amr was married to Hani' ibn Urwa, and she was the mother of Yahya ibn Hani'—and said to them: What keeps Hani' ibn Urwa from coming to us? They said: We do not know, but it is said that he is unwell. He said: It has reached me that he has recovered and is sitting at the door of his house. So go to him and order him not to abandon his duty toward us, for I do not wish that one like him, among the nobles of the Arabs, should be ruined in my eyes.

So they came and stood over him one evening as he was sitting at his door, and said to him: What keeps you from meeting the governor? For he has mentioned you and said: Had I known he was ill I would have visited him. He said to them: My illness keeps me. They said: It has reached him that you sit every evening at the door of your house, and he has found your delay slow. Delay and coldness are not tolerated by the ruler. We adjure you to ride with us. So he called for his clothes and put them on, then called for his mule and mounted it. When he drew near to the palace, it was as if his soul sensed something of what was to come, and he said to Hassan ibn Asma' ibn Kharija: O nephew, by God, I fear this man. What do you think? He said: O uncle, by God, I fear nothing for you, and you have given no cause against yourself. But Hassan did not know why Ubaydullah had sent for him.

So Hani' came in to Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad while the group was with him. When he appeared, Ubaydullah said:

"His own feet have brought you the traitor." When he drew near to Ibn Ziyad—and Shurayh the judge was with him—Ibn Ziyad turned toward him and said:

When he had first arrived, Ibn Ziyad had honored and treated him gently. Hani' said to him: And what is this, O governor? He said: Enough, O Hani' ibn Urwa! What are these affairs you are plotting in your house against the Commander of the Faithful and the Muslims at large? You brought Muslim ibn Aqil and lodged him in your house, gathered for him crowds, weapons, and men in the houses around you, and supposed that this would be hidden from me? He said: I did not do this, and Muslim is not with me. He said: Yes, you did. When the dispute between them grew long and Hani' persisted in denial and refusal, Ibn Ziyad summoned Ma'qil, that spy, who came and stood before him. He said: Do you know this man? He said: Yes. At that, Hani' realized that he had been a spy upon him and had brought him their news, and for a moment he was stricken speechless.

Then his composure returned to him, and he said: Listen to me and believe my words, for by God I have not lied. By God, I did not invite him to my house, nor did I know anything of his affair until he came to me asking to lodge. I was ashamed to turn him away, and a sense of obligation came over me, so I gave him hospitality and shelter, and what has reached you of his affair came to be. If you wish, I will now give you a solemn pledge that I will seek no harm or evil against you, and I will come and place my hand in your hand. And if you wish, I will give you a hostage to be held in your hand until I come; and I will go to him and order him to leave my house for wherever in the land he wishes, so that I may be freed of my obligation and protection of him.

Ibn Ziyad said to him: By God, you shall not leave me ever until you bring him to me. He said: No, by God, I will never bring him to you. Shall I bring you my guest for you to kill him? He said: By God, you shall bring him to me. He said: By God, I will not bring him to you. When the talk between them grew much, Muslim ibn Amr al-Bahili rose—and there was no Syrian or Basran in Kufa but him—and said: May God set the governor right. Leave him to me that I may speak with him. So he rose and took him aside

in a corner away from Ibn Ziyad, yet within his sight, so that if they raised their voices he could hear what they said.

Muslim said to him: O Hani', I implore you by God not to destroy yourself and bring calamity upon your clan. By God, I begrudge that you be killed. This man is the cousin of these people; they will not kill him nor harm him. So hand him over to them, for there is in that no disgrace or shame upon you—you would only be handing him over to the authority.

Hani' said: By God, there is in that disgrace and shame for me—that I should hand over my neighbor and my guest while I am alive, healthy, hearing and seeing, strong of arm, with many supporters. By God, even if I had no one—no helper at all—I would not hand him over until I died defending him. So Muslim kept imploring him, while he kept saying: By God, I will never hand him over to him.

Ibn Ziyad, may God curse him, heard this and said: Bring him close to me. So they brought him near, and he said: By God, you shall bring him to me, or I shall strike off your neck. Hani' said: Then, by God, the gleaming swords will multiply around your house. Ibn Ziyad said: Alas for you! Do you threaten me with gleaming swords?—for he supposed his clan would protect him. Then he said: Bring him close to me. So he was brought near, and Ibn Ziyad struck at his face with a cane, and kept striking his nose, forehead, and cheek with it until he broke his nose, and the blood streamed down his face and beard, and the flesh of his forehead and cheek scattered upon his beard, until the cane broke. Then Hani' put his hand to the hilt of a guardsman's sword, but the man pulled it away from him and prevented him.

Ubaydullah said: Are you a Haruri the rest of the day? Your blood is now lawful. Drag him! So they dragged him and threw him into one of the rooms of the house, locking its door upon him. He said: Set a guard over him. So that was done to him. Hassan ibn Asma' rose to him and said: Are we messengers of treachery the rest of the day? You ordered us to bring you the man, and when we brought him to you, you smashed his nose and his face, made his blood flow upon his beard, and claim you will kill him?

Ubaydullah said to him: And are you still here? So he ordered him struck, and he was shoved and roughly handled and seated aside. Then said

Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath: We are content with whatever the governor sees fit, whether for us or against us—the governor is but a disciplinarian. Word reached Amr ibn al-Hajjaj that Hani' had been killed, so he advanced with Madhhij until he surrounded the palace, with a great host with him, and said: I am Amr ibn al-Hajjaj, and these are the horsemen of Madhhij and its leaders. We have not cast off obedience nor parted from the community. Word had reached them that their man had been killed, and they regarded that as grave. So it was said to Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad: The horsemen of Madhhij are at the gate!

He said to Shurayh the judge: Go in to their man, look at him, then come out and inform them that he is alive and has not been killed. So Shurayh went in and looked at him. When Hani' saw Shurayh, he said: O God! O Muslims! Has my clan perished? Where are the people of religion? Where are the people of the city?—while the blood streamed down his beard. Then he heard the clamor at the gate of the palace and said: I think these are the voices of Madhhij and my Shia among the Muslims. If but ten men come in to me, they would rescue me.

When Shurayh heard his words, he went out to them and said: When the governor heard your words and what you said about your man, he ordered me to go in to him. So I went and looked at him, and he ordered me to meet you and inform you that he is alive, and that what reached you of his killing is false. Amr ibn al-Hajjaj and his companions said to him: Well, since he has not been killed, praise be to God. Then they departed.

So Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad came out and ascended the pulpit, with the nobles of the people, his guards, and his retinue with him, and said: As for what follows, O people: hold fast to the obedience of God and the obedience of your leaders, and do not divide, lest you perish, be humiliated, be killed, be treated harshly, and be deprived. Your brother is the one who is truthful with you, and he who warns has given fair excuse. Peace.

Then he went to descend, but he had not come down from the pulpit before the onlookers entered the mosque from the side of the Date-sellers' Gate, rushing and saying: Ibn Aqil has come! So Ubaydullah hurried into the palace and locked its doors. Abdullah ibn Hazim said: I, by God, was Ibn Aqil's messenger to the palace to see what had become of Hani'. When he was struck and imprisoned, I mounted my horse and was the first to enter the house

to bring the news to Muslim ibn Aqil. The women of Murad were gathered, crying out: O my grief! O my bereavement! I went in to Muslim and told him the news, and he ordered me to call out among his companions—and the houses around him were filled with them, four thousand men. He said: Call out, "O Mansur, slay!" So I called out, and the people of Kufa answered one another and gathered around him.

So Muslim, may God have mercy upon him, appointed leaders over the four quarters: Kinda, Madhhij, Tamim, Asad, Mudar, and Hamdan. The people called to one another and assembled, and it was not long before the mosque and the market were filled with people. They kept surging until evening, and Ubaydullah's affair grew straitened. The most he could do was hold the gate of the palace, and with him were only thirty men of the guard, twenty men of the nobles, and his household and close ones. The nobles who had kept their distance began coming to him from the gate adjoining the house of the Byzantines, while those in the palace with Ibn Ziyad would look down upon the people and watch them, as they pelted them with stones and reviled them... (1)

How excellent are the words of al-Shafhini, may God have mercy upon him, when he says:

The Third Gathering, of the Fourth Day
The Killing of Muslim ibn Aqil (peace be upon him)
It is stated in some of the visitations of the Imams of the Household (peace be upon them): Are the trials, O my masters, anything but those that befell you? And the calamities anything but those that engulfed you? And the tragedies anything but those that singled you out? And the disasters anything but those that struck you? May the blessings of God be upon you and upon your souls and your bodies, and the mercy of God and His blessings. May my father and mother be your ransom, O Household of the Chosen One! We possess nothing but to circle around your shrines and offer condolences there to your souls for these great calamities that have descended upon your domain, and the grievous afflictions that have befallen your courtyard, which have planted sores in the hearts of your Shia, bequeathed wounds to their livers, and sown anguish in their breasts. We call God to witness that we have shared with your earlier

supporters and helpers 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 youth of Paradise, on the day of Karbala—in intention and in heart, and in sorrow over having missed those stands where they were present to support you. God is my Guardian, conveying to you my greeting of peace from me. (1)

It is narrated from Ibn Abbas, who said: Ali (peace be upon him) said to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family): O Messenger of God, do you love Aqil? He said: Yes, by God, I love him with two loves: a love for himself, and a love for the love Abu Talib bore him. And his son shall be slain in the love of your son, and the eyes of the believers shall weep for him, and the angels brought near shall pray over him. Then the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) wept until his tears flowed upon his chest, and then said: To God I complain of what my progeny shall meet after me. (2)

The narrator said, concerning the affair of Muslim ibn Aqil (peace be upon him) in Kufa: Ibn Ziyad summoned Kathir ibn Shihab and ordered him to go out with those who obeyed him among Madhhij, to move about Kufa and dissuade the people from Ibn Aqil (peace be upon him), to frighten them with war, and to warn them of the ruler's punishment. He ordered Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath to go out with those who obeyed him among Kinda and Hadramawt, to raise a banner of safe-conduct for whoever among the people came over. He said the like to al-Qa'qa' al-Dhuhli, Shabath ibn Rib'i al-Tamimi, Hajjar ibn Abjar al-Sulami, and Shimr ibn Dhi al-Jawshan al-Amiri, while he kept the rest of the leading men with him, uneasy about them due to the small number of those with him.

So Kathir ibn Shihab went out dissuading the people from Muslim, and Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath went out until he halted by the houses of Banu Umara. Ibn Aqil sent Abd al-Rahman ibn Shurayh al-Shaybani against Ibn al-Ash'ath. When Ibn al-Ash'ath saw the great number of those who came against him, he withdrew from his position. Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath, Kathir ibn Shihab, al-Qa'qa' ibn Thawr al-Dhuhli, and Shabath ibn Rib'i kept turning the people back from joining Muslim and frightening them with the ruler, until there gathered to them a great number

of their own people and others. They went to Ibn Ziyad from the side of the house of the Byzantines, and the people entered with them.

Kathir ibn Shihab said: May God set the governor right! With you in the palace are many people of the nobles, of your guard, your household, and your freedmen. Come out with us against them. But Ubaydullah refused, and he tied a banner for Shabath ibn Rib'i and sent him out. The people with Ibn Aqil kept growing in number until evening, and their affair was formidable. So Ubaydullah sent for the nobles and gathered them, then they looked down upon the people and promised the obedient increase and honor, and threatened the disobedient with deprivation and punishment, and informed them of the arrival of the army from Syria to them.

Kathir ibn Shihab spoke until the sun was about to set, saying: O people, join your families, and do not hasten to evil, nor expose yourselves to being killed. For these are the armies of the Commander of the Faithful, Yazid, that have come, and the governor has given God a covenant that if you persist in fighting him and do not disperse this very evening, he will deprive your offspring of the stipend, scatter your fighters in the frontiers of Syria, and seize the innocent among you for the guilty, and the present for the absent, until there remains for him no trace of the disobedient but that he makes them taste the consequence of what their hands have wrought. And the nobles spoke in similar fashion.

When the people heard their words, they began to disperse. A woman would come to her son or her brother and say: Come back! The people are enough for you. And a man would come to his son or brother and say: Tomorrow the people of Syria will come upon you—what will you do with war and strife? Come back! And he would take him away and he would withdraw. They kept dispersing until evening came upon Ibn Aqil, and he prayed the sunset prayer with only thirty men with him in the mosque.

When he saw that evening had come and only those few men were with him, he set out heading for the gates of Kinda, but he had not reached the gates before only ten remained with him. Then he went out the gate and found not a single person with him. He turned around and could not sense anyone to guide him along the way, nor to direct him to his lodging,

nor to stand by him should an enemy confront him. So he went on his way, wandering bewildered through the alleys of Kufa, not knowing where to go, until he came out at the houses of Banu Jabala of Kinda. He went on until he came to the door of a woman called Taw'a, a freed slave-mother who had belonged to al-Ash'ath ibn Qays; he had freed her, and Asid al-Hadrami had married her, and she bore him Bilal. Bilal had gone out with the people, and his mother was standing waiting for him.

Ibn Aqil greeted her, and she returned his greeting. He said to her: O servant of God, give me water to drink. So she gave him drink, and he sat down. She went in, then came out and said: O servant of God, have you not drunk? He said: Yes. She said: Then go to your family. He was silent. She repeated the same thing, and he was silent. Then she said the third time: Glory be to God! O servant of God, get up—may God grant you well-being—and go to your family, for it is not proper for you to sit at my door, nor do I permit it for you. So he rose and said: O servant of God, I have no family or clan in this city. Is there for you any reward and kindness in it? Perhaps I may repay you after this day. She said: O servant of God, and what is that? He said: I am Muslim ibn Aqil. These people have lied to me, deceived me, and driven me out. She said: You are Muslim? He said: Yes. She said: Come in.

So he entered a room in her house other than the room she stayed in, and she spread out bedding for him and offered him supper, but he did not eat. It was not long before her son came and saw her going in and out of the room frequently. He said to her: By God, your frequent going in and out of this room since nightfall troubles me. You have some matter. She said to him: O my son, leave this be. He said: By God, you shall tell me. She said to him: Attend to your own affairs, and ask me nothing. He pressed her, so she said: O my son, do not tell anyone among the people anything of what I tell you. He said: Yes. So she made him swear oaths, and he swore to her, and she told him. He lay down and kept silent.

When the people had dispersed from Muslim ibn Aqil (peace be upon him), the night grew long for Ibn Ziyad, and he began to hear no sound from Ibn Aqil's companions as he had before. So he said to his companions: Look out and see whether you can see any of them. They looked out and found no one. He said: Search for them—perhaps they

are lying in ambush for you under the shadows. So they removed the wooden screens of the mosque and began lowering torches in their hands, looking; at times these would give light, and at times they would not, as they wished. So they lowered lamps, and bundles of reeds tied with ropes into which fire was placed, then lowered until they reached the ground. They did this in the farthest, nearest, and middle parts of the shaded areas, until they did it to the portico in which was the pulpit. When they saw nothing, they informed Ibn Ziyad of the dispersal of the people.

So he opened the gate of the enclosure in the mosque, then came out and ascended the pulpit, and his companions came out with him. He ordered them to sit just before the night prayer. He ordered Amr ibn Nafi', who proclaimed: Behold, the protection of God is forfeit from any man of the guard, the chiefs, the officers, or the fighters who prays the night prayer anywhere but in the mosque. It was not but an hour before the mosque was filled with people. Then he ordered his crier to begin the prayer, and he set the guards behind him and ordered them to protect him from anyone entering to assassinate him, and he led the people in prayer. Then he ascended the pulpit, praised God and extolled Him, then said: As for what follows, the foolish, ignorant Ibn Aqil has committed the opposition and discord you have seen, so the protection of God is forfeit from any man we find in whose house he is, and whoever brings him shall have his blood-price. Fear God, O servants of God, and adhere to obedience and your pledge of allegiance, and give no cause against yourselves.

O Husayn ibn Numayr! May your mother be bereaved of you if a single alley of Kufa's alleys escapes you, and this man comes out and you do not bring him to me. I have given you authority over the houses of the people of Kufa, so set watchmen over the people of Kufa and their houses, and tomorrow morning search the houses thoroughly and probe through them until you bring me this man. Al-Husayn ibn Numayr was over his guard, and he was of Banu Tamim. Then Ibn Ziyad entered the palace, having tied a banner for Amr ibn Hurayth and put him in command of the people.

When morning came, he sat in his assembly and gave the people leave, and they entered upon him. Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath came forward, and he said: Welcome to one who is neither suspected of treachery nor mistrusted. Then he seated him beside him. The son of that old woman rose in the morning and went to Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath and informed him of the whereabouts of Muslim ibn

Aqil at his mother's. So Abd al-Rahman came until he reached his father, who was with Ibn Ziyad, and whispered to him. Ibn Ziyad noticed his whispering and said to him, prodding his side with the cane: Get up and bring him to me this instant. So he rose, and Ibn Ziyad sent his people with him, because he knew that every people would hate to have one like Muslim ibn Aqil killed among them.

So he sent with him Ubaydullah ibn al-Abbas al-Sulami with seventy men of Qays, until they came to the house in which was Muslim ibn Aqil (peace be upon him). When he heard the beat of the horses' hooves and the voices of the men, he knew that he had been come for.

(In one narration: He hastened the supplication with which he had been occupied after the dawn prayer, then donned his armor and said to Taw'a: You have fulfilled the duty of kindness owed by you, and have taken your share of the intercession of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family). Last night I saw my uncle, the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), in a dream, and he was saying to me: You shall be with me in Paradise.) (1) And he came out at them with his sword drawn, for they had stormed the house upon him. He fell upon them, striking them with his sword until he drove them out of the house. Ibn Shahrashub, may God have mercy upon him, said: Muslim charged upon them while saying:

And he killed forty-one men of them. (2)

Muhammad ibn Abi Talib said: When Muslim had killed a large group of them, and word of that reached Ibn Ziyad, he sent to Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath saying: We sent you against a single man to bring him to us, and he has wrought a great breach among your companions. So how if we send you against another? Ibn al-Ash'ath sent back: O governor, do you suppose you have sent me against a grocer from the grocers of Kufa, or a Jurmuqani from the Jaramiqa of