المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

Talib say he was eighteen years old, while Shaykh al-Mufid, may God have mercy on him, said he was nineteen that day, and it has been said he was twenty-five — in which case he would be the eldest. It is narrated that when Ali ibn al-Husayn Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) was brought before Ibn Ziyad, he said to him: Who are you? He replied: Ali ibn al-Husayn. Ibn Ziyad said: Did God not slay Ali ibn al-Husayn? Ali (peace be upon him) said to him: I had a brother named Ali whom the people killed.(1) In another narration, he (peace be upon him) said to Ibn Ziyad: I had a brother named Ali, older than me, whom the people killed.(2)

In Ma'ali al-Sibtayn by al-Ha'iri, may God have mercy on him, in the biography of Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him), he says: His mother was Layla, daughter of Abu Murra ibn Urwa ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi. Urwa was one of the four chieftains in Islam, and Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) inherited nobility and leadership from both sides. It is narrated in Nafas al-Mahmum: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) said: There are four chieftains in Islam — Bishr ibn Hilal al-Abdi, Adi ibn Hatim, Suraqa ibn Malik al-Mudliji, and Urwa ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi. Urwa was one of the two great men referred to in the words of God Almighty, quoting the disbelievers of Quraysh: "And they said: Why was this Quran not sent down upon a great man from the two towns?"(3)

He was the one whom Quraysh sent to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) on the day of al-Hudaybiya, and the Prophet concluded the truce with him while he was still a disbeliever. He then embraced Islam in the ninth year of the Hijra, after the Chosen One (peace be upon him and his family) returned from al-Ta'if. He sought the Prophet's permission to return to his people, and he returned and called his people to Islam. One of them shot him with an arrow while he was calling to prayer, and he died. When this news reached him, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) said: The likeness of Urwa is the likeness of the man of Ya-Sin — he called his people to God and they killed him. And he (peace be upon him and his family) said: I saw Jesus son of Mary, and the closest of those I saw to him in resemblance was Urwa ibn Mas'ud.

As for Layla, the mother of Ali al-Akbar, her mother was Maymuna, daughter of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb ibn Umayya, known as Umm Shayba. Mu'awiya was thus the maternal uncle of Layla, the mother of Ali al-Akbar. For this reason, a man from the people of Kufa called out to Ali al-Akbar when he came forth for battle: You have kinship with the Commander of the Faithful Yazid; if you wish, we will grant you safety. He replied: Woe to you! The kinship of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) is more deserving to be honored. Mu'awiya often praised Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him), to the point that he once said to his companions: Who is most deserving of the caliphate among the people? They said: You. He said: No — rather, the most deserving of the caliphate is Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon them); his grandfather is the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family). In him is the courage of the Banu Hashim, the generosity of the Banu Umayya,(1) and the splendor of Thaqif — meaning fine appearance.

It is narrated from Abu Ubayda and Khalaf al-Ahmar that these verses were composed about Ali ibn al-Husayn the Elder, the one slain at Karbala:

This poet praises Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) for his generosity and bounty, and says: No one in the world after al-Husayn (peace be upon him) was seen to equal Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him) in generosity, nobility, feeding the poor, honoring guests, and giving to those who asked. He was so devoted and eager in this that he would purchase delicious foods and fine meats at high prices and order them cooked

and prepared, and he would feed the destitute, the poor, the guests, and the travelers, treating them with the utmost compassion, kindness, and mercy. It was the custom among the Arabs who loved guests and went to great lengths to honor them to light a fire atop their houses in summer and winter, on dark nights, so that if a guest came to them from afar in the darkness of night, that fire would guide him to the host's home — that he might not stray or lose his way. They called it the fire of hospitality. Out of his great love for guests and his eagerness to honor them, Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him), when he lit the fire atop his house, would light it large and ablaze, so that the destitute, the poor, the impoverished, and the orphan might see it and come down to his home and to his food. And how could it be otherwise, when he was the master of generosity, bounty, virtue, and giving, nursed in honor and noble lineage? And he (peace be upon him) held such firm standing in faith and certainty that he would not prefer his worldly life over his religion, nor sell the truth for falsehood.

He said: And one whose nature was thus in generosity and feeding guests came to such an end that he stood before his father (peace be upon him) and said: O father, thirst has killed me.

Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him) was a youth of handsome features and beautiful appearance, without equal, renowned in courage, and likewise in the qualities of perfection — majesty, greatness, generosity, fine character, and more.(1)

Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him) was the most beautiful of people in countenance, the finest of them in form, character, and speech, and the most resembling of people to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) — and this by the testimony of the Master of the Youths of Paradise (peace be upon him). For it is narrated that when he sought his father's permission to fight, his father looked at him with a despairing glance, then lowered his eyes and wept. He then raised his two index fingers toward the heavens and said: O God, be You the witness against them, for there has gone forth against them a youth who most resembles Your Messenger in form, character, and speech. Whenever we longed for Your Prophet, we would gaze upon him.(2)

The proof of God, Shaykh Ali al-Jishi, may God have mercy on him, says, speaking on behalf of al-Husayn (peace be upon him):

And how excellent are the words of Shaykh Abd al-Husayn al-Amili, may God have mercy on him, when he says of him also:

The Second Gathering of the Ninth Day
The Martyrdom of Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him)
For the pure ones of the household of Muhammad and Ali, may God's blessings be upon them both and upon their families, let the weepers weep; for them let the mourners lament; for the likes of them let tears flow, let those who cry out cry out, those who clamor clamor, and those who wail wail. Where is al-Hassan, and where is al-Husayn? Where are the sons of al-Husayn — righteous one after righteous one, truthful one after truthful one? Where is the path after the path, the chosen after the chosen? Where are the rising suns? Where are the shining moons? Where are the radiant stars? Where are the beacons of religion and the foundations of knowledge?(3)

It is stated in Maqatil al-Talibiyyin that Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) was born during the caliphate of Uthman, and he narrated from his grandfather Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).(1)

In Ma'ali al-Sibtayn he says: When the people of Medina longed for the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), they would look at Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him). Al-Husayn (peace be upon him) loved him so intensely that whenever he saw him he rejoiced and was overjoyed with great delight, and whenever he asked him for something he would never refuse him, even if it required a miracle. Kathir ibn Shadhan said: I witnessed al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon them) when his son Ali al-Akbar craved grapes from him out of season, so he struck his hand against a pillar of the mosque and brought forth for him grapes and bananas and fed him, and he (peace be upon him) said: What God has for His friends is more abundant still.(2)

I say: He whose love for his son was such that he would not refuse him a request without fulfilling it for him, even if it required a miracle — what then was his state when this son returned from the battlefield and asked him for a sip of water, yet he was unable to give it to him and quench his thirst?(3)

Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him) was known for his firmness in religion, his defense of the truth, and his fearlessness of death in the cause of God Almighty. Uqba ibn Sam'an narrated regarding al-Husayn's (peace be upon him) journey to Karbala, saying: We traveled with him for a while, and he (peace be upon him) dozed off for a moment while on the back of his horse, then awoke saying: "Indeed we belong to God, and indeed to Him we shall return, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds." He did this twice or three times. His son Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) approached him and said: Why did you praise God and say the verse of return? He said: O my son, I dozed off for a moment, and a horseman upon a horse appeared to me saying: "The people are journeying, and death is journeying toward them." So I knew that our souls had been announced to us as taken. He said to him: O father, may God not show you ill — are we not upon the truth? He said: Indeed, by Him to whom the servants shall return. He said: Then we

do not care if we die in the right.

Al-Husayn (peace be upon him) said to him: May God reward you, as a son, with the best reward a son ever received from his father.(1)

In Bihar al-Anwar, the learned al-Majlisi, may God have mercy on him, says: They said: Then Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) came forward. Muhammad ibn Abi Talib and Abu al-Faraj said: His mother was Layla, daughter of Abu Murra ibn Urwa ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi, and he was eighteen years old that day. Ibn Shahrashub said: It is also said he was twenty-five. They said: Al-Husayn (peace be upon him) raised his index finger toward the heavens and said: O God, witness against these people, for there has gone forth against them a youth who most resembles Your Messenger in form, character, and speech. Whenever we longed for Your Prophet, we would look upon his face. O God, withhold from them the blessings of the earth, scatter them utterly, tear them apart completely, make them factions divided, and never make the rulers pleased with them — for they called upon us to aid us, then turned upon us to fight us.

Then al-Husayn (peace be upon him) cried out to Umar ibn Sa'd: What is wrong with you? May God sever your kinship and grant you no blessing in your affair, and may He set over you one who will slaughter you upon your bed after me, just as you have severed my kinship and failed to honor my relationship with the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family). Then al-Husayn (peace be upon him) raised his voice and recited: "Indeed God chose Adam and Noah and the family of Abraham and the family of Imran above all the worlds — descendants, some from others; and God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." Then Ali ibn al-Husayn charged upon the people, saying:

He continued to fight until the people clamored at the great number he had slain among them. It is narrated that he killed, despite his thirst, one hundred and twenty men. He then returned to his father, having sustained many wounds, and said: O father, thirst has killed me, and the weight of the iron has exhausted me. Is there any way to a drink of water

with which I may gain strength against the enemies? Al-Husayn (peace be upon him) wept and said: O my son, it grieves Muhammad, and Ali ibn Abi Talib, and me, that you should call upon them and they not answer you, and cry out to them for help and they not aid you. O my son, give me your tongue. He took his tongue and sucked it, and he gave him his ring and said: Hold it in your mouth and return to fight your enemy, for I hope you will not reach evening before your grandfather gives you to drink from his overflowing cup a drink after which you will never thirst again. So he returned to the battle, saying:

He continued to fight until he had slain a full two hundred. Then Munqidh ibn Murra al-Abdi struck him upon the crown of his head a blow that felled him, and the people struck him with their swords. He then embraced his horse, which carried him into the army of the enemies, and they cut him to pieces with their swords, limb from limb.

When his soul reached his throat, he called out, raising his voice: O father, this is my grandfather, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), who has given me to drink from his overflowing cup a drink after which I shall never thirst again, and he says: Hasten, hasten! For there is a cup stored for you that you shall drink this very hour. Al-Husayn (peace be upon him) cried out and said: May God slay a people who killed you — how bold they are against the Most Merciful and against His Messenger (peace be upon him and his family), and against violating the sanctity of the Messenger! As for the world after you — let it be dust.

Humayd ibn Muslim said: It is as if I am still looking at a woman who came out hurriedly, as though she were the rising sun, crying out in woe and ruin, saying: O my beloved! O fruit of my heart! O light of my eyes! I asked about her and was told: She is Zainab, daughter of Ali (peace be upon him). She came and threw herself upon him, then al-Husayn came, took her by the hand, and returned her to the tent. Then he (peace be upon him) came forward with his young men and said: Carry your brother. So they carried him from where he had fallen and brought him until they laid him beside the tent before which they had been fighting.(1)

The late Shaykh Ja'far al-Tustari, may God have mercy on him, said: Al-Husayn (peace be upon him), in the calamity of his son, was on the verge of death three times. The first was when Ali al-Akbar came forth and sought his father's permission to fight, and he granted him permission, clothed him in armor and weapons, and mounted him upon al-Uqab. He, may God be pleased with him, said: When the radiance of his face appeared from the horizon of al-Uqab, and his hand and foot took hold of the rein and stirrup, the women came out and surrounded him; his aunts and sisters seized his rein and stirrup and prevented him from setting out. At that moment al-Husayn's (peace be upon him) state so changed that he was on the verge of death, and he cried out to his women and household: Let him go, for he is consumed by devotion to God and slain in the cause of God. Then he took his hand and brought him out from among them, and looked at him with a despairing glance. The second time al-Husayn (peace be upon him) was on the verge of death was when Ali al-Akbar (peace be upon him) returned from the battlefield, having sustained many wounds, with blood flowing from the collar of his armor, and heat and thirst had overcome him severely. He stood and said: O father, thirst! And al-Husayn (peace be upon him) embraced him to his chest, wept, and was on the verge of death from the intensity of grief and sorrow, since he was unable to give him water. The third time was when he saw Ali fall and call out: O father, peace be upon you from me. Sakina said: When my father heard the voice of his son, I looked at him and saw that he was on the verge of death, his eyes rolling like one in the throes of death, and he began to gaze at the edges of the tent, and his soul nearly departed from his body, and he cried out from within the tent: My son! May God slay a people who killed you.(1)

And another said:

The Third Gathering of the Ninth Day
The Merit of Weeping for Imam al-Husayn (peace be upon him)
and the Calamities of the People of the Household (peace be upon them)
It is stated in some of the visitation prayers of the Imams of the Household (peace be upon them): Are the trials, O my masters, anything but those that befell you? Are the calamities anything but those that engulfed you? Are the tragedies anything but those that singled you out? Are the disasters anything but those that struck you? May God's blessings be upon you and upon your souls and your bodies, and the mercy of God and His blessings. By my father and mother, O family of the Chosen One, we have no power except to circle about your sanctuaries and offer condolences for your souls therein, for these mighty calamities that befell your courtyards and the grievous afflictions that descended upon your domain — which have planted ulcers in the hearts of your followers, bequeathed wounds to their livers, and sown anguish in their breasts. We call God to witness that we have shared with your friends and your earlier supporters in the shedding of the blood of the breakers of the covenant, the transgressors, and the apostates, and the killers of Abu Abdullah, the master of the youths of Paradise, on the day of Karbala — through our intentions and our hearts, and through our regret at having missed those occasions in which they were present to support you. And God, my Guardian, conveys to you my greetings of peace.(1)

Shaykh Ja'far al-Tustari, may God have mercy on him, mentioned in al-Khasa'is al-Husayniyya a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (peace be upon him), who said: Our followers are from us, created from the surplus of our clay and kneaded with the light of our guardianship. They were pleased with us as imams, and we were pleased with them as followers. What befalls us befalls them, and our calamities make them weep,

and our sorrow grieves them, and our joy delights them. We too feel pain at their pain, and we are aware of their states, for they are with us, never parting from us, and we never part from them. Then he said: O God, our followers are from us; so whoever remembers our affliction and weeps on our account, God is too generous to punish him with the Fire.(1)

It is narrated from Ali ibn al-Hasan ibn Fadhal, from his father, who said: Al-Ridha (peace be upon him) said: Whoever recalls our calamity and weeps for what was done to us will be with us in our rank on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is reminded of our calamity and weeps and makes others weep — his eye will not weep on the day when eyes weep. And whoever sits in a gathering in which our cause is revived — his heart will not die on the day when hearts die.

From Bakr ibn Muhammad, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: Whoever remembers us, or before whom we are remembered, and there flows from his eye a tear like the wing of a gnat, God forgives his sins even if they were like the foam of the sea.

From Aban ibn Taghlib, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: The breath of one grieved for our oppression is glorification, his sorrow for us is worship, and concealing our secret is striving in the cause of God. Then Abu Abdullah said: This hadith ought to be written in gold.

From Muhammad ibn Abi Umara al-Kufi, who said: I heard Ja'far ibn Muhammad (peace be upon them) say: Whoever sheds a tear from his eye on our account, for blood that was shed of ours, or a right of ours that was diminished, or an honor of ours that was violated, or that of any of our followers, God will settle him thereby in Paradise for an age.

From al-Rabi' ibn al-Mundhir, from his father, from al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon them), who said: There is no servant whose eyes shed a drop on our account, or whose eyes water with a tear on our account, but that God settles him thereby in Paradise for an age. Ahmad ibn Yahya al-Awdi said: I saw al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon them) in a dream and said: Makhul ibn Ibrahim narrated to me, from al-Rabi' ibn al-Mundhir, from his father, from you, that you said: There is no servant whose eyes shed a drop on our account, or whose eyes water with a tear on our account, but that God settles him thereby in Paradise for an age? He said: Yes. I said:

The chain of transmission between you and me has dropped away.(1)

From Fudayl, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: Whoever, when we are remembered before him, his eyes overflow even if but the size of a fly's wing, God forgives his sins even if they were like the foam of the sea.

From Fudayl ibn Fadhala, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: Whoever, when we are remembered before him, his eyes overflow, God forbids his face to the Fire.(2)

Sayyid Ibn Tawus, may God have mercy on him, said: It is narrated from the family of the Messenger (peace be upon them) that they said: Whoever weeps and makes a hundred weep on our account, Paradise is his; whoever weeps and makes fifty weep, Paradise is his; whoever weeps and makes thirty weep, Paradise is his; whoever weeps and makes twenty weep, Paradise is his; whoever weeps and makes ten weep, Paradise is his; whoever weeps and makes one weep, Paradise is his; and whoever feigns weeping, Paradise is his.

From Muhammad ibn Muslim, who said: I heard Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) say: Indeed al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon them) is before his Lord, mighty and exalted, looking upon his camp and the martyrs with him who dwell there, and looking upon his visitors. He knows them, and their names, and the names of their fathers, and their ranks and standing before God, mighty and exalted, better than any of you knows his own child. He sees the one who weeps for him and seeks forgiveness for him, and asks his fathers (peace be upon them) to seek forgiveness for him. And he says: If my visitor knew what God has prepared for him, his joy would be greater than his grief. And his visitor departs with no sin upon him.

From Muhammad, from Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him), who said: Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon them) used to say: Whichever believer's eyes shed a tear for the slaying of al-Husayn ibn Ali, a tear that flows down his cheek, God will settle him thereby in chambers in Paradise that he will dwell in for ages. And whichever believer's eyes shed tears that flow down his cheek over harm that touched us from our enemy in this world, God will settle him in a place of truth in Paradise. And whichever believer is touched by harm

on our account, and his eyes shed tears that flow down his cheeks from the anguish of the harm done on our account, God will turn the harm away from his face and grant him security on the Day of Resurrection from His wrath and from the Fire.(1)

From Salih ibn Uqba, from Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him), who said: Whoever recites about al-Husayn a single verse of poetry and weeps, and makes ten weep, Paradise is his and theirs. Whoever recites about al-Husayn a verse and weeps, and makes nine weep, Paradise is his and theirs. And he continued until he said: Whoever recites about al-Husayn a verse and weeps — and I think he said: or feigns weeping — Paradise is his.

From Misma' Kirdin, who said: Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) said to me: O Misma', you are from the people of Iraq; do you not visit the grave of al-Husayn? I said: No, I am a well-known man among the people of Basra, and there are among us those who follow the whims of this caliph, and our enemies are many among the tribes — the Nasibis and others — and I do not feel safe from their reporting me to the sons of Sulayman, who would then make an example of me. He said to me: Do you not then remember what was done to him? I said: Yes. He said: And do you grieve? I said: Yes, by God, and I shed tears over it, until my family sees its mark upon me, and I refrain from food until it shows plainly in my face. He said: May God have mercy on your tear. Indeed you are among those counted as grieving for us, who rejoice at our joy, grieve at our grief, fear at our fear, and feel safe when we are safe. Indeed, you will see at your death, when my fathers attend to you and instruct the Angel of Death concerning you, and the glad tidings they bring you — that which will gladden your eye before death. So the Angel of Death will be gentler with you and more merciful to you than a tender mother to her child.

He said: Then he wept and I wept with him, and he said: Praise be to God, who favored us above His creation with mercy, and singled out us, the People of the Household, with mercy. O Misma', the earth and the heavens have wept ever since the Commander of the Faithful was slain, out of mercy for us, and those of the angels who wept for us are more. The tears of the angels have not ceased since we were slain. No one has wept out of mercy for us and for what we have suffered but that God had mercy upon him before the tear left

his eye. And when his tears flow down his cheek — if a single drop of his tears fell into Hell, it would extinguish its heat until no heat could be found in it. The one whose heart is pained for us will rejoice on the day he sees us at his death with a joy that will remain in his heart until he comes upon us at the Pool. Indeed al-Kawthar rejoices at the one who loves us when he comes upon it, to the point that it gives him to taste of varieties of food that he would not wish to leave behind.

O Misma', whoever drinks of it a single drink will never thirst again, and never be wretched again. It is in the coolness of camphor, the fragrance of musk, the taste of ginger — sweeter than honey, softer than butter, clearer than a tear, more fragrant than ambergris. It issues from Tasnim and flows through the rivers of Paradise, running over pebbles of pearl and ruby. Upon it are goblets more numerous than the stars of the sky. Its fragrance is found from a distance of a thousand years. Its goblets are of gold and silver and varieties of gems. There wafts into the face of the one who drinks from it every fragrance, and the one drinking from it says: Would that I were left here, seeking no substitute for this, nor any change from it.

Indeed, O Kirdin, you are among those who will drink of it. There is no eye that wept for us but that it will be blessed with the sight of al-Kawthar, and the one who loved us will be given to drink from it. The one who drinks from it is given of pleasure, taste, and delight more than is given to one beneath him in love for us. And upon al-Kawthar is the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), and in his hand is a staff of boxthorn with which he drives away our enemies. One of them says: I bear witness to the two testimonies! And he says: Go to your imam so-and-so and ask him to intercede for you. He says: My imam whom you mention disowns me. And he says: Go back behind you and say to the one you used to follow and place ahead of all creation, ask him — since with you he was the best of creation — to intercede for you, for the best of creation is worthy that he not be refused when he intercedes. And he says: I am perishing of thirst. And he says: May God increase your thirst, and may God increase your parchedness.

I said: May I be your ransom, how is he able to draw near to the Pool when no one else was able to? He said: He abstained from foul deeds, and refrained from reviling us when we were mentioned, and abandoned things that others dared

to do — and that was not out of love for us, nor out of any inclination of his, but rather because of the intensity of his striving in his worship and his religious devotion, and because he occupied himself with that, away from speaking of people. As for his heart, it was hypocritical, and his religion was enmity toward us, following the people of enmity and the guardianship of the past ones, placing them ahead of everyone.(1)

And how excellent are the words of Sayyid al-Himyari, may God have mercy on him, when he says:

From Abu Harun al-Makfuf, who said: Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) said in a long hadith:

And whoever, when al-Husayn is remembered before him, sheds from his eyes tears the measure of a fly's wing — his reward is upon God, mighty and exalted, who is not content for him with anything less than Paradise.

From Abdullah ibn Bukayr in a long hadith, who said: I made the pilgrimage with Abu Abdullah (peace be upon him) and said: O son of the Messenger of God, if the grave of al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon them) were dug up, would anything be found of him in his grave? He said: O son of Bukayr, how grave is your question! Indeed al-Husayn ibn Ali (peace be upon him) is with his father, his mother, and his brother in the dwelling of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), and with him — they are provided for and made joyful. And he is at the right of the Throne, holding fast to it, saying: O Lord, fulfill for me what You promised me. And he gazes upon his visitors, and he knows them, and their names, and the names of their fathers, and what is in their saddlebags, better than any of them knows his own child. And he gazes upon the one who weeps for him and seeks forgiveness for him, and asks his father to seek forgiveness for him, and says: O weeper, if you knew what God has prepared for you, you would rejoice more than you grieved. And he seeks forgiveness for him from every sin and offense.

The learned al-Majlisi, may God have mercy on him, said: I found in one of the works of our companions that it was related from Sayyid Ali al-Husayni, who said: I was residing as a neighbor at the shrine of my master Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha (peace be upon him) with a group of believers. When it was the tenth day of the month of Ashura, a man from among our companions began to recite the account of the martyrdom of al-Husayn (peace be upon him), and there came a narration from al-Baqir (peace be upon him) that he said: Whoever sheds tears from his eyes over the affliction of al-Husayn, even but the size of a gnat's wing, God forgives his sins even if they were like the foam of the sea. There was with us in the gathering an ignorant pretender who claimed knowledge but did not possess it, and he said: This is not authentic, and reason does not accept it. The dispute among us grew, and we parted from that gathering while he persisted in his obstinacy in rejecting the hadith. That man slept that night and saw in his dream that it was as if the Resurrection had come, and the people were gathered upon a level plain in which you would see no crookedness nor any rise. The balances were set up, the bridge was extended, the reckoning was laid out, the records were spread, the fires were kindled, the gardens were adorned, and the heat intensified upon him. Suddenly he was overcome by severe thirst, and he kept seeking water but could not find it.