المجالس العاشورية في المآتم الحسينية

the soil. I said: What is it, O Messenger of God? He said: I have just witnessed the slaying of al-Hussein.

And from Shahr ibn Hawshab: al-Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon them) came in to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) while revelation was being sent down upon him, and the revelation descended upon the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) while al-Hussein was clinging to his back. Gabriel said: Do you love him? He said: Shall I not love my own son? He said: Truly your nation shall kill him after you. Then Gabriel stretched out his hand, and there was white soil, and he said: In this soil your son shall be slain. This place, O Muhammad, is called al-Taff.

In the reports of Salim ibn al-Ja'd, that one was Michael; and in the Musnad of Abu Ya'la, that one was the angel of rain.

And it is narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: While I was lying down in my house, I suddenly heard a great, loud cry coming from the house of Umm Salama, and she was saying: O daughters of Abd al-Muttalib, mourn with me and weep with me, for your master has been slain. It was said: How do you know this? She said: I saw the Messenger of God just now in a dream, disheveled and terrified, and I asked him about that, and he said: My son al-Hussein and the people of his household have been killed, and I have buried them. She said: Then I looked, and there was the soil of al-Hussein that Gabriel had brought from Karbala, and he had said: When it turns to blood, then your son has been slain. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had given it to me and said: Put it in a glass and keep it with you; when it turns to blood, then al-Hussein (peace be upon him) has been slain. And I saw that the vial had now turned to fresh, surging blood (1).

And it is narrated from al-Sadiq Ja'far ibn Muhammad (peace be upon them) who said: One day Umm Salama, may God be pleased with her, awoke weeping, and she was asked: What makes you weep? She said: My son al-Hussein has been killed this night. That is because I had not seen the Messenger of God since he passed away until this night, and I saw him pale and grief-stricken. She said: I said: What is the matter with you, O Messenger of God, that I see you pale and grief-stricken? He said: All night long I have been digging graves for al-Hussein

and his companions, peace be upon him and upon them (1).

And from Ibn Abbas, he said: While I was lying down in my house, I suddenly heard a great, loud cry coming from the house of Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). So I went out, with my guide leading me toward her house, and the people of Medina, men and women, came to her. When I reached her, I said: O Mother of the Believers! Why are you crying out and calling for help? She did not answer me, and she turned to the Hashimite women and said: O daughters of Abd al-Muttalib, mourn with me and weep with me, for by God your master and the master of the youths of Paradise has been slain. By God, the grandson of the Messenger of God and his sweet basil, al-Hussein, has been killed. I said: O Mother of the Believers, how do you know this? She said: I saw the Messenger of God just now in a dream, disheveled and terrified, and I asked him about his state, and he said: My son al-Hussein (peace be upon him) and the people of his household have been killed today, and I have buried them, and just now I finished burying them.

She said: So I arose and entered the house, scarcely able to reason, and I looked, and there was the soil of al-Hussein that Gabriel had brought from Karbala, and he had said: When this soil turns to blood, then your son has been slain. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had given it to me and said: Put this soil in a glass—or he said: in a vial—and keep it with you; when it turns to fresh blood, then al-Hussein has been slain. And I saw the vial now, and it had turned to fresh, surging blood.

He said: So Umm Salama took some of that blood and smeared her face with it, and she made that day a mourning gathering and lamentation for al-Hussein (peace be upon him). Then the riders came with the news that he had been killed on that very day.

Amr ibn Thabit said: My father said: I went in to Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali in his house, and I asked him about this hadith, and I mentioned to him the narration of Sa'id ibn Jubayr of this hadith from Abd Allah ibn Abbas, and Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him) said: Umar ibn Abi Salama narrated it to me from his mother Umm Salama.

Ibn Abbas said, in the narration of Sa'id ibn Jubayr from him, he said: And when the following night came,

I saw the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) in my dream, dusty and disheveled, and I mentioned that to him, and I asked him about his state, and he said to me: Do you not know that I have finished burying al-Hussein and his companions?!

Amr ibn Abi al-Miqdam said: Sudayr narrated to me, from Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him), that Gabriel came to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) with the soil upon which al-Hussein (peace be upon him) would be slain. Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him) said: It is with us (1).

And the learned al-Majlisi, may mercy be upon him, mentioned: from one of the books of virtues, from Ahmad ibn Ja'far al-Qatifi, by the chain from Ammar, that Ibn Abbas saw the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) in his dream one day at midday, disheveled and dusty, in his hand a vial containing blood. He said: O Messenger of God! What is this blood? He said: The blood of al-Hussein; I have not ceased to gather it since today. So he counted that day, and it was found that he had been killed on that day (2).

And Zirr ibn Hubaysh narrated, from Salma, who said: I went in to Umm Salama and she was weeping, and I said to her: What makes you weep? She said: I saw the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) in a dream, and upon his head and his beard was the trace of soil. I said: What is the matter with you, O Messenger of God, that you are covered in dust? He said: I have just witnessed the slaying of al-Hussein (3).

And it is narrated that Salma al-Madaniyya said: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) handed to Umm Salama a vial containing sand from al-Taff, and he said to her: When this turns to fresh blood, then al-Hussein will be slain. Salma said: Then a wail rose up from the chamber of Umm Salama, and I was the first to come to her. I said: What has befallen you, O Mother of the Believers? She said: I saw the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) in a dream with soil upon his head, and I said: What is the matter with you? He said: The people fell upon my son and killed him, and I have just witnessed him slain.

My skin shuddered, and I leapt to the vial, and I found it surging with blood. Salma said: And I saw it placed before her (1).

And from Umm Salama, she said: One day the Messenger of God was sitting, and al-Hussein was sitting in his lap, when his eyes overflowed with tears. I said to him: O Messenger of God! Why do I see you weeping—may I be your ransom? He said: Gabriel came to me and offered me condolences for my son al-Hussein, and informed me that a faction of my nation will kill him; may God not grant them my intercession.

And it is narrated by another chain from Umm Salama, may God be pleased with her, that she said: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) went out from us one night and was absent from us a long while, then came to us disheveled and dusty, his hand clenched. I said to him: O Messenger of God! Why do I see you disheveled and dusty? He said: I was carried this very moment to a place in Iraq called Karbala, and I was shown there the place where my son al-Hussein and a number of my children and the people of my household would fall, and I kept gathering their blood, and here it is in my hand. He extended his hand to me and said: Take it and guard it. So I took it, and it was like red soil. I placed it in a vial, fastened its top, and kept it.

Then, when al-Hussein (peace be upon him) departed from Mecca heading toward Iraq, I would take out that vial every day and night and smell it and look at it, then weep over his affliction. And when the tenth day of Muharram came—the day on which he (peace be upon him) was killed—I took it out at the beginning of the day, and it was in its state. Then I returned to it at the end of the day, and it was fresh blood. So I cried out in my house and wept, restraining my grief for fear that their enemies in Medina would hear and hasten to gloat. I kept noting the time and day until the herald came announcing his death, and what I had seen was confirmed (2).

And it is narrated in one of the reliable books of virtues, from Umm Salama, who said: Gabriel came to

the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and said: Truly your nation will kill him—meaning al-Hussein—after you. Then he said: Shall I show you some of his soil? She said: So he brought pebbles, and the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) placed them in a vial. And when the night of al-Hussein's (peace be upon him) killing came, Umm Salama said: I heard a voice saying:

She said: So I wept, and I opened the vial, and behold, blood had appeared in it (1).

And how excellent are the words of Sheikh Hassan al-Tarouti, may mercy be upon him and may God make his resting place sweet, when he says:

The Eighth Assembly
The Angels' Honoring of al-Hussein (peace be upon him) and the Supplication of Fitrus through Him
al-Rawandi, may mercy be upon him, said: It is narrated that when al-Hussein (peace be upon him) was born, God the Exalted commanded

Gabriel to descend with a host of angels to congratulate Muhammad. So he descended and passed by an island upon which was an angel called Fitrus, whom God had sent on some errand, but he tarried, so his wing was broken and he was cast onto that island, where he worshiped God for seven hundred years. Fitrus said to Gabriel: Where to? He said: To Muhammad. He said: Carry me with you to Muhammad; perhaps he will pray for me.

And when Gabriel entered and informed Muhammad of Fitrus's condition, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to him: Tell him to wipe himself against this newborn. So Fitrus wiped himself against the cradle of al-Hussein (peace be upon him), and God at once restored his wing to him, and he ascended with Gabriel to the heavens, and he was named the freedman of al-Hussein (peace be upon him) (1).

And how excellent are the words of Sheikh Muhammad Ali al-Ya'qubi, may mercy be upon him, when he says:

And it is narrated from Ibrahim ibn Shu'ayb, who said: I heard Abu Abd Allah (peace be upon him) say: When al-Hussein ibn Ali was born, God, mighty and majestic, commanded Gabriel to descend with a thousand angels to congratulate the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) on behalf of God, mighty and majestic, and on behalf of Gabriel. He said: So Gabriel descended, and he passed by an island in the sea upon which was an angel called Fitrus, who was among the bearers. God, mighty and majestic, had sent him on some errand, but he tarried, so his wing was broken and he was cast onto that island, where he worshiped God, blessed and exalted, for seven hundred years, until al-Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon them) was born. The angel said to Gabriel: O Gabriel! Where are you headed? He said: God, mighty and majestic, has bestowed a blessing upon Muhammad, so I have been sent to congratulate him on behalf of God and on my own behalf. He said: O Gabriel! Carry me with you; perhaps Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) will pray for me. He said: So he carried him.

He said: And when Gabriel entered upon the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and congratulated him on behalf of God, mighty and majestic, and on his own behalf, and informed him of Fitrus's condition, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: Tell him to wipe himself against this newborn and return to his place. He said: So Fitrus wiped himself against al-Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon them) and rose up, and he said: O Messenger of God! Truly your nation will kill him, and he has a recompense due from me: no visitor will visit him but that I will convey it to him from him, and no one will greet him with peace but that I will convey his greeting to him, and no one will invoke blessings upon him but that I will convey his blessing to him. Then he rose up (1).

And how excellent are the words of Sheikh Muhammad Rida al-Gharawi, may mercy be upon him, when he says:

Ibn Abbas said: I heard the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) say: Truly God, blessed and exalted, has an angel called Dardail, who had sixteen thousand wings, and between wing and wing was air, and the air was as the distance between heaven and earth. One day he began to say to himself: Is there anything above our Lord, majestic is His majesty? And God, blessed and exalted, knew what he said, so He increased him with the like of those wings, so he came to have thirty-two thousand wings. Then God, mighty and majestic, revealed to him: Fly. So he flew for the span of five hundred years, yet his head did not reach a single pillar of the pillars of the Throne. And when God, mighty and majestic, knew his exhaustion, He revealed to him: O angel! Return to your place, for I am Great above all that is great, and there is nothing above anything, nor am I described by place. So God stripped him of his wings and his station among the ranks of the angels.

And when al-Hussein ibn Ali (the blessings of God be upon them) was born—and his birth was on the eve of Thursday,

the night of Friday—God revealed to Malik, the keeper of the fires: Extinguish the fires upon their people, in honor of a newborn born to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). And He revealed to Ridwan, the keeper of the gardens: Adorn the gardens and make them fragrant, in honor of a newborn born to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) in the abode of this world. And He revealed to the houris of wide eyes: Beautify yourselves and visit one another, in honor of a newborn born to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) in the abode of this world.

And God revealed to the angels: Stand in rows with glorification, praise, exaltation, and magnification, in honor of a newborn born to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) in the abode of this world. And God, mighty and majestic, revealed to Gabriel (peace be upon him): Descend to My Prophet Muhammad with a thousand troops, in each troop a thousand thousand angels, upon piebald horses saddled and bridled, bearing domes of pearl and ruby, accompanied by angels called the Spiritual Ones, in their hands spears of light, that they may congratulate Muhammad on his newborn. And inform him, O Gabriel, that I have named him al-Hussein, and console him, and say to him: O Muhammad! The worst of your nation will kill him, mounted upon the worst of beasts. So woe to the killer, and woe to the driver, and woe to the leader. The killer of al-Hussein—I am free of him, and he is free of me, for no one will come on the Day of Resurrection but that the killer of al-Hussein is greater in crime than him. The killer of al-Hussein will enter the Fire on the Day of Resurrection with those who claim that there is another god alongside God, and the Fire is more eager for the killer of al-Hussein than it is for one who obeyed God to enter Paradise.

He said: And while Gabriel was descending from heaven to earth, he passed by Dardail, and Dardail said to him: O Gabriel! What is this night in heaven? Has the Resurrection come upon the people of the world? He said: No, but a child has been born to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) in the abode of this world, and God, mighty and majestic, has sent me to him to congratulate him on his newborn. The angel said to him: O Gabriel! By the One who created you and created me, if you descend to Muhammad, convey my greeting of peace to him, and say to him: By the right of this newborn upon you, you must ask God your Lord to be pleased with me and to restore to me my wings and my station among the ranks of the angels.

So Gabriel descended upon the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and congratulated him as God, mighty and majestic, had commanded him, and consoled him. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: My nation will kill him? He said: Yes. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: These are not my nation; I am free of them

and God is free of them. Gabriel said: And I am free of them, O Muhammad.

So the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went in to Fatima and congratulated her and consoled her, and Fatima (peace be upon her) wept and said: Would that I had not borne him; the killer of al-Hussein is in the Fire. And the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: I bear witness to that, O Fatima, but he will not be killed until from him comes an Imam from whom come the rightly-guiding Imams after him.

Then he (peace be upon him and his family) said: The Imams after me are: the Guide, Ali; the Rightly-Guided, al-Hassan; the Helper, al-Hussein; the Aided, Ali ibn al-Hussein; the Intercessor, Muhammad ibn Ali; the Benefactor, Ja'far ibn Muhammad; the Trusted, Musa ibn Ja'far; the Pleasing, Ali ibn Musa; the Doer, Muhammad ibn Ali; the Trustworthy, Ali ibn Muhammad; the All-Knowing, al-Hassan ibn Ali; and the one behind whom Jesus son of Mary will pray. So Fatima ceased weeping.

Then Gabriel informed the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) of the matter of the angel and what had befallen him. Ibn Abbas said: So the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) took al-Hussein, who was wrapped in cloths of wool, and pointed with him toward heaven, then said: O God, by the right of this newborn upon You—nay, rather by Your right upon him, and upon his grandfather Muhammad, and Abraham, and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob—if al-Hussein ibn Ali ibn Fatima has any worth with You, then be pleased with Dardail, and restore to him his wings and his station among the ranks of the angels. So God answered his supplication and forgave the angel, and the angel is not known in Paradise except by it being said: This is the freedman of al-Hussein ibn Ali, the son of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) and the son of Fatima, the daughter of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) (1).

And it is narrated from al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) that he said: There was an angel among those brought near, called Salsa'il, whom God sent on an errand, but he tarried, so He stripped him of his feathers and shattered his wings and settled him on one of the islands of the sea, until the night al-Hussein (peace be upon him) was born. The angels descended and sought God's permission to congratulate my grandfather, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), and to congratulate the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) and Fatima (peace be upon her), and God gave them permission. So they descended in throngs from the Throne, and from one heaven to another heaven, and they passed by Salsa'il as he lay cast upon the island.

And when they looked at him, they stopped, and he said to them: O angels of my Lord! Where are you headed? And why have you descended? The angels said to him: O Salsa'il! On this night was born the noblest newborn ever born in the world after his grandfather the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) and his father Ali and his mother Fatima and his brother al-Hassan, and he is al-Hussein (peace be upon him). We have sought God's permission to congratulate His beloved Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) on his son, and He gave us permission. Salsa'il said: O angels of God, I ask you by God our Lord and your Lord, and by His beloved Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and by this newborn, to carry me with you to the beloved of God, and to ask him, and I will ask him, to ask God by the right of this newborn whom God has bestowed, to forgive my sin, and to mend the breaking of my wing, and to return me to my station among the angels brought near.

So they carried him and brought him to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), and they congratulated him on his son al-Hussein (peace be upon him), and they recounted to him the story of the angel, and they asked him to ask God and to adjure Him by the right of al-Hussein (peace be upon him) to forgive his sin, and to mend the breaking of his wing, and to return him to his station among the angels brought near.

So the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) arose and went in to Fatima (peace be upon her) and said to her: Hand me my son al-Hussein. So she brought him out to him, swaddled, cooing to his grandfather the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family). He went out with him to the angels and carried him on the flat of his palm, and they cried out exaltations and magnifications, and praised God the Exalted and extolled Him. Then he turned with him toward the qibla, toward the heaven, and said: O God, I ask You by the right of my son al-Hussein to forgive Salsa'il his sin, and to mend the breaking of his wing, and to return him to his station among the angels brought near. So God the Exalted accepted from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) that by which he had adjured Him, and forgave Salsa'il his sin, and mended the breaking of his wing, and returned him to his station among the angels brought near (1).

And it is narrated that Gabriel (peace be upon him) descended one day and found al-Zahra (peace be upon her) asleep and al-Hussein in his cradle weeping. So he began to coo to him and soothe him until she awoke, and she heard the voice of one cooing to him,

so she turned but saw no one, and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) informed her that it had been Gabriel (peace be upon him) (1).

And how excellent are the words of the late Sheikh Abd al-Mun'im al-Furtusi, may mercy be upon him, when he says:

The Ninth Assembly
The Prophet's (peace be upon him and his family) Foretelling of the Slaying of al-Hussein (peace be upon him)
It is narrated from Aban ibn Taghlib, from Abu Abd Allah, from his father (peace be upon them), that he said: The Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) said: Whoever wishes to live my life, and die my death, and enter the Garden of my Lord—the Garden of Eden, which He planted with His own hand—let him take Ali as his guardian, and take his guardian as a guardian, and take his enemy as an enemy, and follow the successors after him, for they are the Imams of guidance after me. God has given them my understanding and my knowledge, and they are my progeny from

my flesh and my blood. To God I complain of those of my nation who deny their merit and sever my bond regarding them. And by God, they will surely kill my son—meaning al-Hussein—may God not grant them my intercession (1).

And from al-Awwam, the freedman of Quraysh, who said: I heard my master Umar ibn Hubayra say: I saw the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) with al-Hassan and al-Hussein in his lap, kissing this one once and kissing that one once, and saying to al-Hussein: Woe to whoever kills you (2).

And it is narrated from Abu Abd Allah (peace be upon him), who said: One day al-Hussein ibn Ali was in the lap of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), playing with him and making him laugh, and A'isha said: O Messenger of God, how intense is your delight in this child!! He said to her: Woe to you, and how should I not love him and delight in him, when he is the fruit of my heart and the coolness of my eye? Truly my nation will kill him, and whoever visits him after his death, God will record for him a pilgrimage of my pilgrimages. She said: O Messenger of God, a pilgrimage of your pilgrimages? He said: Yes, and two pilgrimages of my pilgrimages. She said: O Messenger of God, two pilgrimages of your pilgrimages? He said: Yes, and four. He said: And she kept increasing it, and he kept increasing and doubling it, until it reached ninety pilgrimages of the pilgrimages of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), with their lesser pilgrimages (3).

And from Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-San'ani, from Abu Ja'far (peace be upon him), who said: Whenever al-Hussein (peace be upon him) entered upon the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family), he would draw him to himself, then say to the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him): Hold him. Then he would lean over him and kiss him and weep, and he would say: O father! Why do you weep? And he would say: O my son! I kiss the place of the swords upon you, and I weep. He said: O father! And shall I be killed? He said: Yes, by God, and your father and your brother and you. He said: O father! Then our resting-places shall be scattered? He said: Yes, my son. He said: Then who of your nation will visit us? He said: None will visit me, nor visit your father and your brother and you, except the most truthful of my nation (4).

And Ibn Shahrashub, may mercy be upon him, narrated in al-Manaqib, from Ibn Abbas, who said: Hind asked A'isha

to ask the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) to interpret a dream, and he said: Tell her to relate her dream. So she said: I saw as though the sun had risen from above me, and the moon had come out from my point of exit, and as though a black star came out of the moon and fell upon a sun that came out of the sun, smaller than the sun, and swallowed it, and the horizon darkened at its swallowing. Then I saw stars appearing from the sky and blackened stars upon the earth, except that the blackened ones encompassed the horizon of the earth from every place.

Then the eye of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) was lined with his tears, then he said: She is Hind. Go out, O enemy of God—twice—for you have renewed my sorrows upon me and announced to me the deaths of my beloved ones. And when she went out, he said: O God, curse her and curse her offspring.

And he was asked about its interpretation, and he (peace be upon him and his family) said: As for the sun that rose upon her, it is Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him); and the star that came out like the moon, black, it is Mu'awiya—seduced, corrupt, denying God. And that darkness which you imagined, and you saw a black star come out of the moon, and fall upon a sun that came out of the sun, smaller than the sun, and swallow it so that it darkened—that is my son al-Hussein (peace be upon him); the son of Mu'awiya will kill him, so the sun will darken and the horizon will grow dark. And as for the black stars upon the earth that encompassed the earth from every place, those are the Umayyads (1).

And from Ibn Abbas: that during that illness the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) was saying: Call to me my beloved. So man after man was summoned to him, but he turned away from each. It was said to Fatima: Go to Ali, for we see that the Messenger of God wants none but Ali. So Fatima sent for Ali (peace be upon him), and when he entered, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) opened his eyes and his face brightened, then he said: To me, O Ali; to me, O Ali. And he kept drawing him near until he took him by the hand and seated him beside his head. Then he fell unconscious, and al-Hassan and al-Hussein (peace be upon him) came crying out and weeping until they fell upon the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family). Ali (peace be upon him) wanted to remove them from him, but the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) regained consciousness, then said: O Ali! Let me smell them and let them smell me, and let me take provision from them

and let them take provision from me. Truly they will be wronged after me and will be killed unjustly, so may the curse of God be upon whoever wrongs them—he said it three times. Then he extended his hand to Ali (peace be upon him) and drew him to himself until he brought him beneath the garment that was upon him, and placed his mouth upon his mouth, and began to confide in him a long confidence, until his pure soul departed, may the blessings of God be upon him and his family (1).

And from Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari in the book Dala'il al-Imama, by his chain from Hudhayfa, who said: I heard al-Hussein ibn Ali (peace be upon them) say: By God, the tyrants of the Umayyads will surely unite to kill me, and Umar ibn Sa'd will lead them. And that was during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). I said to him: Did the Messenger of God inform you of this? He said: No. He said: So I went to the Prophet and informed him, and he said: My knowledge is his knowledge, and his knowledge is my knowledge; for we know of what is to be before its coming to be (2).

And from Abd Allah ibn Yahya, who said: We entered with Ali toward Siffin, and when he came alongside Nineveh he called out: Patience, O Abu Abd Allah! Then he said: I went in to the Messenger of God while his eyes were overflowing, and I said: By my father and mother, O Messenger of God, why are your eyes overflowing? Has someone angered you? He said: No, but Gabriel was just with me and informed me that al-Hussein will be killed on the bank of the Euphrates, and he said: Would you like me to let you smell some of his soil? I said: Yes. So he stretched out his hand and took a handful of soil and gave it to me, and I could not keep my eyes from overflowing. And the name of the land is Karbala.

And when two years had passed over him, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) went out on a journey, and he stopped along part of the road and said "We belong to God" and his eyes overflowed with tears. He was asked about that, and he said: This is Gabriel informing me of a land by the bank of the Euphrates, called Karbala, in which my son al-Hussein will be killed. It is as though I behold him and his place of falling and his burial there. And it is as though I behold the captives upon the backs of the riding-beasts, and the head of my son al-Hussein presented to Yazid, may God curse him. By God, no one will look upon the head of al-Hussein and rejoice but that God will set discord between his heart and his tongue, and will punish him with a painful punishment.

Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) returned from his journey grieved and distressed, sorrowful and saddened. He ascended the pulpit and made al-Hassan and al-Hussein ascend with him, and he delivered a sermon and admonished the people. When he finished his sermon, he placed his right hand upon the head of al-Hassan and his left hand upon the head of al-Hussein, and said: O God, truly Muhammad is Your servant and Your messenger, and these two are the choicest of my progeny, the best of my stock, and the most excellent of my offspring, and those whom I leave behind among my nation. Gabriel has informed me that this son of mine will be killed by poison, and the other a martyr drenched in blood. O God, so bless him in his slaying, and make him among the masters of the martyrs. O God, and do not bless his killer and the one who forsakes him, and make him taste the heat of Your Fire, and gather him in the lowest pit of Hell.

He said: So the people clamored with weeping and wailing, and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to them: O people! Do you weep for him yet not aid him? O God, then be You for him a guardian and a helper. Then he said: O people! I leave among you the two weighty things: the Book of God and my progeny, my stock, the blending of my water, the fruit of my heart, and my lifeblood. They will not part until they return to me at the Pool. Behold, I ask you nothing in return for this except what my Lord commanded me to ask of you—I ask you for love of the kindred. And beware lest you meet me tomorrow at the Pool having harmed my progeny, and killed the people of my household, and wronged them. Behold, there will come to me on the Day of Resurrection three banners from this nation: the first, a black, dark banner, from which the angels recoiled, will halt before me, and I will say to them: Who are you? But they will forget my mention, and they will say: We are the people of monotheism from the Arabs. So I will say to them: I am Ahmad, the Prophet of the Arabs and the non-Arabs. They will say: We are of your nation. So I will say: How did you succeed me after I was gone, regarding the people of my household and my progeny and the Book of my Lord? They will say: As for the Book, we wasted it; and as for the progeny, we strove to wipe them off the face of the earth. And when I hear that from them, I will turn my face away from them, and they will depart thirsty, their faces blackened.

Then another banner will come to me, blacker than the first, and I will say to them: How did you succeed me after I was gone, regarding the two weighty things: the Book of God and my progeny? They will say: As for the greater, we opposed it; and as for the lesser, we tore them to utter shreds. So I will say: Away from me! And they will depart thirsty, their faces blackened.