المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

Habib ibn Mazahir, may God be pleased with him, was one day standing in the market of Kufa at a perfumer's shop, buying dye for his wife, when Muslim ibn Awsaja passed by him. Habib turned to him and said: O my brother, O Muslim, I see the people of Kufa gathering horses and weapons. Muslim wept and said: O my brother, the people of Kufa have resolved to fight the son of the daughter of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family). So Habib wept and threw the dye from his hand and said: By God, this hair shall be dyed by nothing but the blood of my own slaughter in defense of Hussein (peace be upon him).

Now while Hussein (peace be upon him) was traveling from Mecca to Kufa, he wrote a letter to Habib, the text of which was this: From Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) to the learned man Habib ibn Mazahir. To proceed, O Habib: you know our kinship to the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family), and you know us better than others, and you are a man of honor and zeal, so do not withhold yourself from us, and my grandfather the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family) shall reward you on the Day of Resurrection.

Then he sent it to Habib. Habib was sitting with his wife, and before them was food they were eating, when his wife was suddenly overcome and said: God is greatest, O Habib! At this very moment a noble letter shall reach us from a noble man. While they were still speaking, suddenly someone knocked at the door. Habib went out to him and said: Who is knocking? He said: I am the messenger of Hussein (peace be upon him) to you. Habib said: God is greatest! The free woman has spoken truly in what she said. Then the man handed him the letter, and he opened it and read it. His wife asked him about the news, and he told her, and she wept and said: By God I implore you, O Habib, do not fall short in supporting the son of the daughter of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family). He said: Indeed, until I am killed before him and my gray hair is dyed with the blood of my own slaughter. Now Habib wished to conceal his intent from his clan and his cousins, lest anyone learn of it, out of fear of Ibn Ziyad. While Habib was attending to his affairs and his needs and preparing to join Hussein (peace be upon him), his cousins came to him and said: O Habib, we have heard that you intend to go out to support Hussein (peace be upon him), and we will not let you go. He said to them: What have we to do with getting involved between rulers? So Habib hid the matter and denied it

to them, and they turned away from him.

His wife heard this and said: O Habib, it seems you are reluctant to go out to support Hussein (peace be upon him). He wished to test her state, so he said: Yes. She wept and said: O Habib, have you forgotten the words of his grandfather (God's blessings be upon him and his family) concerning him and his brother Hassan (peace be upon him), when he said: These two sons of mine are the masters of the youth of Paradise, and they are two Imams whether they rise or sit? And here is his messenger and his letter come to you seeking your aid, and you have not answered him? Habib said: I fear for my children becoming orphans, and I fear that you will be widowed after me. She said: We shall find comfort in following the women, the daughters, and the orphans of the family of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family), and God Almighty is our guardian, and He is sufficient for us, and an excellent Trustee.

When Habib learned from her the truth of the matter, he prayed for her and thanked her, and told her what was in his heart, and that he was resolved to set out and depart. She said: I have a request of you. He said: What is it? She said: By God I implore you, O Habib, when you reach Hussein (peace be upon him), kiss his hands and his feet on my behalf, and convey my greetings to him. He said: With love and honor.

Then Habib went to his horse and saddled it firmly, and said to his servant: Take my horse and go with it, and let no one know of you, and wait for me in such-and-such place. The servant took it and went off with it, and remained awaiting the arrival of his master.

Then Habib (peace be upon him) bade farewell to his wife and children, and went out in secret, as though heading to an estate of his, out of fear of the people of Kufa. The servant grew impatient and approached the horse—and there was fodder before it from which it was eating—and the servant began to address it, saying: O steed, if your master does not come, I shall mount your back and go with you to support Hussein (peace be upon him). When the horse heard the servant's words to it, it began to weep, with its tears running down its cheeks, and it refused to eat. While it was in this state, suddenly Habib appeared and heard the servant's words. He clapped one hand upon the other and said: May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O son of the Messenger of God! The slaves long to support you, so how much more the free men? Then he said to his servant:

O young man, you are free for the sake of God.

The servant wept and said: My master, by God I will not leave you until I go with you and support Hussein (peace be upon him), the son of the daughter of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family), and am killed before him. So he thanked him, and they set off.

Hussein (peace be upon him) had stopped along his way in a certain land, and had tied twelve banners and distributed his banners among his companions, but one banner remained. One of his companions said to him: Grant me the favor of carrying it. He (peace be upon him) said: Its owner shall come to it. They said: O son of the Messenger of God, let us move on from this land. He said to them: Be patient until the one who is to carry this remaining banner comes to us. While Hussein (peace be upon him) and his companions were speaking, suddenly they saw a rising cloud of dust. The Imam (peace be upon him) turned and said to them: The owner of this banner has come. When Habib drew near to the wronged Imam, he dismounted from his horse and began kissing the ground before him while weeping, and he greeted the Imam and his companions, and they returned his greeting. Zainab, the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), heard this and said: Who is this man who has arrived?

He said to her: Habib ibn Mazahir. She said: Convey my greetings to him. When they conveyed her greeting to him, Habib struck his face and threw dust upon his head, and said: Who am I, and what am I, that the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) should greet me?(1)

The noble poet al-Haj Husayn al-Jami, may God reward him well, says of Habib ibn Mazahir, the chief of the supporters:

On the tenth day, Habib ibn Mazahir displayed his surpassing courage in support of the thirsty stranger, as he saw Hussein (peace be upon him) among the enemies who had surrounded him, with arrows pouring down upon him like falling rain. When the time of prayer drew near, it is stated in the History of al-Tabari that Abu Thumama al-Sa'idi, may God's pleasure be upon him, said to him: O Abu Abdullah, may my soul be your ransom, I see these people have drawn near to you, and by God you shall not be killed until I am killed in your defense, God willing. And I would love to meet my Lord having performed this prayer, whose time has now drawn near.

He said: So Hussein (peace be upon him) raised his head and then said: You have mentioned the prayer—may God make you among those who pray and remember Him. Yes, this is the beginning of its time. Then he said: Ask them to hold off from us so that we may pray. Al-Husayn ibn Tamim said to them: It will not be accepted. Habib ibn Mazahir said to him: You claim the prayer of the family of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family) will not be accepted, yet it would be accepted from you, O donkey?

He said: Then al-Husayn ibn Tamim charged at them, and Habib ibn Mazahir came out against him and struck the face of his horse with the sword, so it reared and threw him off, and his companions carried him and rescued him. And Habib began to say:

O worst of people in lineage and ancestry.

He said: And on that day he kept reciting:

In the narration of Ibn Shahr Ashub, may mercy be upon him, it is said: He killed sixty-two men.(1) And Abu Mikhnaf said: He fought fiercely, and a man of Banu Tamim charged at him and struck him on the head with the sword and killed him—he was called Budayl ibn Suraym of Banu Aqfan. Another man of Banu Tamim charged at him and stabbed him, so he fell, and as he went to rise, al-Husayn ibn Tamim struck him on the head with the sword and he fell, and the Tamimi came down to him and cut off his head.

Abu Mikhnaf said: Muhammad ibn Qays related to me, saying: When Habib ibn Mazahir was killed, it shook Hussein (peace be upon him) deeply, and he said: With God I seek the reward for myself and for the loss of the defenders among my companions.

In another narration, one of the narrators said: Habib continued fighting until he had killed a great many of them, then he was slain, and Hussein (peace be upon him) said: May God have mercy upon you, O Habib. You used to complete the Quran in a single night, and you were a man of excellence.(2)

Concerning this, the learned man of letters Sheikh Muhammad al-Samawi, may mercy be upon him, says:

Al-Husayn ibn Tamim and the Tamimi—may God curse them both—disputed over the killing of Habib (peace be upon him). One said to him: I am your partner in killing him. The other said: By God, none killed him but I. Al-Husayn said: Give him to me so I may hang him from the neck of my horse, that the people may see and know that I shared in killing him; then take him afterward and bring him to Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, for I have no need of what you would be given for your having killed him.

He said: But the man refused, so their people reconciled them upon this arrangement, and he handed over the head of Habib ibn Mazahir to him, and he paraded with it through the army, having hung it from the neck of his horse, then handed it back to him afterward. When they returned to Kufa, the other man took the head of Habib and hung it from the breast-strap of his horse, then came with it to Ibn Ziyad in the palace. His son al-Qasim ibn Habib caught sight of him—and he was at that time approaching adolescence—and he began to follow along with the horseman, never leaving him; whenever the man entered the palace, he entered with him, and when he came out, he came out with him. The man grew suspicious of him and said: What is the matter with you, my boy, that you follow me? He said: Nothing. He said: No, my boy, tell me.

He said to him: This head you have with you is the head of my father. Will you give it to me so that I may bury it? He said: My boy, the commander will not consent to its being buried, and I want the commander to reward me well for having killed him. The boy said to him: But God will reward you for that with nothing but the worst of rewards. By God, you have killed one better than yourself. And he wept.

The boy remained, and when he reached manhood, he had no ambition but to track the killer of his father, that he might catch him off guard and slay him in revenge for his father. So when it was the time of Mus'ab ibn al-Zubayr, and Mus'ab raided Bajumayra, he entered the camp of Mus'ab, and there was the killer of his father in his tent. He began coming and going in pursuit of him and seeking an opportunity, and he came upon him while he was taking his midday rest, and struck him with his sword until he was cold in death.(2)

The Fourth Gathering, of the Sixth Day
The words of some of the companions of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), and of some of the Companions and others, concerning the slaying of Hussein (peace be upon him) and its enormity.
It is narrated that Habib ibn Mazahir al-Asadi (peace be upon him) addressed the army of Ibn Sa'd, saying: By God, what a wretched people they are who shall come tomorrow before God, Mighty and Majestic, and before His Messenger Muhammad (God's blessings be upon him and his family), having killed his offspring and his household—those who keep vigil in the hours before dawn, who remember God much by night and by day—and his pious, righteous Shia.(1)

Among the words of Burayr ibn Khudayr to them, he also said: By God, the intercession of Muhammad (God's blessings be upon him and his family) shall not reach a people who have shed the blood of his offspring and his household. And he also said to them: O you people, fear God, for the progeny of Muhammad (God's blessings be upon him and his family) is now among you—these are his offspring, his kin, his daughters, and his womenfolk. So tell us, what is your intent? And what do you mean to do with them?(2)

Ibn Abi al-Dunya mentioned that when news of the killing of Hussein (peace be upon him) reached Umm Salama, she said: Have they really done it? May God fill their graves and their houses with fire! Then she fell down unconscious.(3)

On the authority of Shahr ibn Hawshab, who said: I heard Umm Salama, when the news of the death of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him) came, curse the people of Iraq, and she said: They killed him—may God, Mighty and Majestic, kill them! They deceived him and humiliated him—may God curse them! Then she wept until she fainted.(4) And Ibn Sa'd mentioned, on the authority of Umm Salama, that when she heard of the killing of

Hussein (peace be upon him), she said: Have they really done it?! May God fill the houses of the killers and their graves with fire! Then she wept until she fainted.(1)

On the authority of Mundhir al-Thawri, who said: Whenever we mentioned Hussein and those who were killed with him, Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya would say: Seventeen were killed with him, all of whom had stirred in the womb of Fatima (peace be upon her).(2)

On the authority of Abu Mikhnaf, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Ubayd Abu al-Kanud, who said: When the news of the killing of his two sons along with Hussein (peace be upon him) reached Abdullah ibn Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, one of his freedmen came in to him while people were consoling him. He said: I think that freedman of his was none other than Abu al-Laslas. He said: This is what we have suffered and what has befallen us on account of Hussein. So Abdullah ibn Ja'far threw his sandal at him and then said: O son of a wretched woman, do you say this about Hussein? By God, had I witnessed it, I would have loved not to part from him until I was killed with him. By God, what makes me content to give up my own life over them and lightens my grief over them is that they were stricken alongside my brother and my cousin, comforting him and patient with him. Then he turned to those sitting with him and said: Praise be to God, Mighty and Majestic, over the death-place of Hussein. If my own hand did not comfort Hussein, then my sons have comforted him.(3)

In another narration, Abdullah ibn Ja'far said: Had I witnessed it, I would have loved to be killed with him. Then he said: Grievous to me is the death-place of Hussein (peace be upon him).(4)

Al-Tabarani narrated, on the authority of Aban ibn al-Walid, who said: Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr wrote to Ibn Abbas concerning the pledge of allegiance, but he refused to pledge to him. Yazid ibn Mu'awiya supposed that he had only refrained from doing so out of regard for his (Yazid's) position, so Yazid ibn Mu'awiya wrote to Ibn Abbas: To proceed: It has reached me that the heretic Ibn al-Zubayr has called you to his allegiance, to bring you into his obedience, that you might be a supporter of falsehood and a partner in sin,

but you refused him and held back, on account of what God has made you recognize within yourself of our right, the family of the House. So may God reward you with the best reward He gives to those who maintain ties with their kin and fulfill their covenants. Whatever of things I may forget, I shall not forget your kindness and your loyalty, and the goodness of your conduct, by which you are worthy of us in obedience, in honor, and in kinship to the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family). So look to those of your people who are with you, and to those who come to you from the various lands whom Ibn al-Zubayr enchants with his tongue and the embellishment of his speech, and turn them away from him, for they are more obedient to you and more apt to listen to you than to that deviant, ruinous renegade. And peace.

So Ibn Abbas wrote to him: To proceed: Your letter has come to me, mentioning Ibn al-Zubayr's calling me to that to which he called me, and that I refused him out of recognition of your right. If that is so, then it is not your kindness that I seek thereby; rather, God knows what I intend by it.

And you wrote to me to incite the people for you and to turn them away from Ibn al-Zubayr. Then there shall be no joy nor delight! May your mouth be filled with dust, and may stones be your lot! You are surely deluded if your soul has flattered you, and you are indeed the lonely, the doomed one.

And you wrote to me mentioning the hastening of your kindness and your bounty. So hold back—O man—your kindness and your bounty from me, for I am holding back from you my affection and my support. And by my life, you give us of what is in your hands nothing but a little, while you withhold from it the broad and the long—may you be fatherless.

Do you think I would forget your killing of Hussein and the youths of Banu Abd al-Muttalib, the lamps of darkness and the stars of guidance? Your troops abandoned them by your command, and they became corpses laid out upon a single plain, wrapped in their blood, stripped bare in the open, neither shrouded nor laid to rest, the winds blowing dust over them, the wolves prowling about them, and the limping hyenas visiting them—until God provided for them a people who had not shared in their bloodshed, who shrouded them and buried them. And by them—by God—and by me, did God bestow His favor upon you, so that you sit in the seat in which you now sit.

And whatever of things I may forget, I shall not forget your setting loose upon them the bastard son of the bastard,

son of the immoral adulteress, the one far removed in kinship, base in father and mother, and the one whom your father acquired in claiming him for himself—disgrace, sin, abasement, and ignominy in this world and the next—for the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family) said: The child belongs to the marriage-bed, and to the adulterer is the stone. Yet your father claimed that the child may belong to other than the marriage-bed, and that it does no harm to the adulterer, and that his child is attached to him as the rightly-guided one's child is. Truly your father killed the Sunnah through ignorance, and revived misleading innovations deliberately.

And whatever of things I may forget, I shall not forget your driving Hussein from the sanctuary of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family) to the sanctuary of God, and your dispatching men against them, and your secretly instructing them that if he were alerted to your presence, they should hasten against him. You did not cease in this until you drove him out of Mecca to the land of Kufa, your cavalry and your troops roaring at him with the roar of lions, out of enmity from you toward God and His Messenger (God's blessings be upon him and his family) and his household. Then you wrote to Ibn Marjana to meet him with cavalry and men, with spears and swords, then wrote to him to hasten against him and not to draw matters out, until you killed him and those with him of the youths of Banu Abd al-Muttalib—the People of the House from whom God has removed all impurity and purified completely. We are those people, not like your coarse, churlish forefathers, the livers of donkeys.

You knew that he was the most honored of the people of al-Batha in al-Batha of old, and the most honored of them in recent times—had he wished to settle in the two Sanctuaries and there make fighting lawful. But he disliked being the one through whom the sanctuary of God, and the sanctuary of His Messenger (God's blessings be upon him and his family), and the sanctity of the Sacred House would be violated. So Hussein sought from you a truce and asked you to let him return, but you seized upon the fewness of his supporters and the annihilation of his household, as though you were killing a household of Turks or of Kabul. So how do you urge me toward your affection, and seek my support, when you have killed the sons of my father, and your sword drips with my blood, and you are the one who has taken my vengeance? If God wills, my blood shall not go unavenged with you, nor will you outstrip me in my vengeance. And if you do outstrip us in it, then before us the prophets and the families of prophets accepted what they accepted, and their blood was shed in this world, and the appointed meeting was with God; and God suffices as a Helper for the wronged and as an Avenger against the wrongdoers.

And the wonder, all the wonder—and as long as you live, time shall show you wonders—is your carrying off the daughters of

Abd al-Muttalib, and your carrying off their sons, small young boys, to you in Syria, showing the people that you have subdued us and that you humiliate us. Yet by them—by God—and by me, did God bestow His favor upon you and upon your father and your mother among the women. And by God, you pass your evening and your morning safe from the wound of my hand, while the wound of my tongue and my undoing and my binding shall surely grow great against you. So let the disputation not provoke you, for God shall not grant you respite after your killing of the family of His Messenger except for a little while, until He seizes you with a painful grip and brings you forth from this world sinful and condemned. So live, may you be fatherless, as you wish, for what you have committed has already ruined you before God.

When Yazid read the letter, he said: Ibn Abbas was indeed unrelenting in evil.(1)

Ibn al-Athir mentioned that when Zayd ibn Arqam saw the head of Hussein (peace be upon him) before Ibn Ziyad—who was striking the noble head with his staff—he went out saying: You, O assembly of Arabs, are slaves from this day forth. You have killed Hussein, the son of Fatima (peace be upon her), and given command to the son of Marjana, who kills your best and enslaves your worst.(2)

And when Ka'b ibn Jabir returned, his wife—or his sister—al-Nawar bint Jabir said to him: You aided against the son of Fatima, and you killed the master of the reciters! Truly you have committed a monstrous thing. By God, I will never speak a single word to you again.(3)

And Sulayman ibn Qatta said, lamenting Hussein (peace be upon him):

Ibn Abi Shayba narrated, on the authority of Amr ibn Ba'ja, who said: The first humiliation that befell the Arabs was

the killing of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him), and the claiming of Ziyad.(1)

On the authority of Abu Mikhnaf, from Abd al-Malik ibn Nawfal, who said: My father related to me, saying: When Hussein (peace be upon him) was killed, Ibn al-Zubayr stood among the people of Mecca and magnified the gravity of his slaying, and reproached the people of Kufa in particular, and blamed the people of Iraq in general. He said—after praising God and extolling Him, and invoking blessings upon Muhammad (God's blessings be upon him and his family): Truly the people of Iraq are treacherous and depraved, save a few, and the people of Kufa are the worst of the people of Iraq. They summoned Hussein to support him against them, but when he came to them they rose up against him and said to him: Either you place your hand in our hands so that we may send you to Ibn Ziyad ibn Sumayya in surrender, that he may carry out his judgment upon you, or you fight. And by God, he saw that he and his companions were few among many and that he would be killed. But he chose a noble death over a base life, so may God have mercy upon Hussein and disgrace the killer of Hussein (peace be upon him).

By my life, in their opposition to him and their disobedience there was that wherein lay a warner and a deterrent against them. But by God, they killed one whose night-standing in prayer was long, whose fasting by day was much—one more deserving of what they hold than they, and more worthy of it in religion and in merit.(2)

And al-Walid said to Marwan ibn al-Hakam, when he advised him to kill Hussein (peace be upon him): Reproach someone other than me, O Marwan! You have chosen for me that which holds the ruin of my religion. By God, I would not wish to possess all that the sun rises and sets upon of the wealth and dominion of this world if it meant I had killed Hussein. Glory be to God! Shall I kill Hussein because he said, "I will not pledge allegiance"? By God, I truly think that a man who is held to account for the blood of Hussein will have a light scale before God on the Day of Resurrection.(3)

Al-Tabari said: Ibn Ziyad summoned Umar ibn Sa'd and said: March to Hussein, and when we have finished with what is between us and him, march to your post. Umar ibn Sa'd said to him: If you would see fit to excuse me, then do so.

Ubaydullah said to him: Yes—on the condition that you return our appointment to us. He said: When he said that to him, Umar ibn Sa'd said: Grant me this day so that I may consider. He said: So Umar went off to seek counsel, and he sought counsel from no one but that they forbade him from it.

He said: And Hamza ibn al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba—who was his sister's son—came and said: I implore you by God, O uncle, not to march against Hussein, for you would sin against your Lord and sever your ties of kinship. By God, for you to leave this world owning nothing of the dominion of the whole earth would be better for you than to meet God with the blood of Hussein (peace be upon him). Umar ibn Sa'd said to him: I shall indeed do so, God willing.(1)

On the authority of al-Hasan—that is, al-Basri—who said: Sixteen men of his household were killed along with Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon him). By God, there was no household upon the face of the earth that day resembling them. Sufyan said: And who would doubt this?(2)

Al-Mas'udi narrated, concerning the killing of the People of the House (peace be upon them) by the Umayyads, that the daughters of Marwan ibn Muhammad—the last of the caliphs of the Umayyads—came in to Salih ibn Ali al-Abbasi seeking pardon from him. The eldest of Marwan's daughters said to him: Let your pardon embrace us as our injustice once embraced you. Salih said: We shall not spare a single one of you, neither man nor woman. Did not your father, only yesterday, kill the son of my brother, Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Abdullah ibn al-Abbas, in his prison in Harran?

Did not Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik kill Zayd ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and crucify him in the dunghill of Kufa, and kill Zayd's wife at al-Hira, at the hands of Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi? Did not al-Walid ibn Yazid ibn Abd al-Malik kill Yahya ibn Zayd and crucify him in Khurasan? Did not Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad the bastard kill Muslim ibn Aqil ibn Abi Talib at Kufa?

Did not Yazid ibn Mu'awiya kill Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon them both), at the hands of Umar ibn Sa'd, along with

those of his household (peace be upon them) who were slain before him? Did he not lead out the sanctuary-women of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family) as captives, until he brought them to Yazid ibn Mu'awiya—and before their arrival he had sent to him the head of Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon them both), its skull pierced, upon the tip of a spear, paraded through the provinces and cities of Syria until they brought it to Yazid in Damascus, as though he had sent him the head of a man of the polytheists? Then he made the sanctuary-women of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family) stand in the place of captives, while the coarse, tyrannical soldiers of Syria examined them and asked him to give them the sanctuary-women of the Messenger of God (God's blessings be upon him and his family) as gifts—in contempt of his right (God's blessings be upon him and his family), in audacity against God, Mighty and Majestic, and in ingratitude for His blessings. So what is it that you would have spared of us, the People of the House, had you been just with us?(1)

It is also stated in the narration of al-Abi in Nathr al-Durr, who said: A daughter of Marwan came in to Abdullah ibn Ali and said: Peace be upon you, O Commander of the Faithful, and the mercy of God and His blessings. He said: I am not he. She said: Peace be upon you, O Commander. He said: And upon you be peace. She said: Let your justice embrace us. He said: Then no one of you would remain upon the earth, for you waged war against Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) and denied him his right; you poisoned Hassan (peace be upon him) and broke his treaty; you killed Hussein (peace be upon him) and paraded his head; you killed Zayd and crucified his body; you killed Yahya ibn Zayd and mutilated him; you cursed Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) upon your pulpits; you beat Ali ibn Abdullah unjustly with your whips; and you imprisoned the Imam in your prison. So would justice for us mean that we spare not one of you?

She said: Then let your pardon embrace us. He said: As for this—yes. Then he ordered her wealth returned to her, and then said:

The Fifth Gathering, of the Sixth Day
Imam Hussein (peace be upon him) and the Prophets
It is narrated that when Adam descended to the earth, he did not see Eve, so he went about the earth searching for her. He passed by Karbala and was overcome with grief, and his breast was straitened without any cause, and he stumbled in the very spot where Hussein (peace be upon him) would be killed, until blood flowed from his foot. He raised his head to the heavens and said: My God, has some other sin issued from me, for which You have punished me? For I have gone about the whole earth, and no harm has befallen me like what has befallen me in this land. So God revealed to him: O Adam, no sin has issued from you, but in this land your descendant Hussein shall be killed unjustly, so your blood flowed in harmony with his blood. Adam said: O Lord, will Hussein be a prophet? He said: No, but he is the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (God's blessings be upon him and his family). He said: And who is his killer? He said: His killer is Yazid, cursed by the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth. Adam said: Then what shall I do, O Gabriel? He said: Curse him, O Adam. So he cursed him four times, then walked a few steps toward the mountain of Arafat and found Eve there.

And it is narrated that when Noah embarked upon the ark, it sailed him about the whole world, and when it passed by Karbala, the earth seized it, and Noah feared drowning. He called upon his Lord and said: My God, I have gone about the whole world, and no terror has befallen me like what has befallen me in this land. So Gabriel descended and said: O Noah, in this place Hussein, the grandson of Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, and the son of the Seal of the Successors, shall be killed. He said: And who is his killer, O Gabriel? He said: His killer is cursed by the inhabitants of the seven heavens and the seven earths. So Noah cursed him four times, and the ark sailed on until it reached al-Judi and came to rest upon it.

And it is narrated that Abraham (peace be upon him) passed through the land of Karbala while riding a horse, and it stumbled with him, and Abraham fell and his head was gashed and his blood flowed. So he began to seek forgiveness and said: My God, what thing