STRAIGHTPATHMONTHLY December 2011
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(Tabari, Kamil) Imam called out to him,
"O son of As'ad! May your Allah have mercy upon
you! They have become worthy of the wrath from the
time they have neglected your invitation towards right
before the battle, and from the time they stood up against
you, and considered lawful shedding the blood of your
companions. Then what escape do they have, after
having killed your virtuous brothers"? Hanzalah said,
"You have spoken the truth, may I be your ransom! It is
now time to go to the other home and unite with the
brothers." (Tabari, Malhoof) Imam replied, "Yes, go
towards that which is better for you than the world and
whatever it contains. Go towards the kingdom which
will not wear out."
Hearing this Hanzalah replied, "Peace be upon you O
Aba Abdillah! May Allah's blessings be upon you and
your family. May Allah acquaint us with you in
Paradise." Imam replied, "So be it." Then Hanzalah
proceeded further (Malhoof) and fought valiantly and forebore
the fear of battle, until he was martyred. (May Allah's Mercy
and Blessings be upon him).
(Tabari) Then the two Jabirite brothers advanced further
saying, "Peace be upon you O son of the Prophet of
Allah." Imam replied, "And Peace be upon you."
They fought until they were martyred. (May Allah's Mercy
and Blessings be upon them).
Martyrdom of Shawzib and Abis
The narrator says that Abis bin Abi Shabib Shakiri came
to Shawzib, who was his relative, and said, "What is your
heart's desire"? He replied, "What do I desire? I desire to
fight alongside you, while defending the grandson of the
Prophet of Allah (S.A.W.), until I am martyred." Abis
replied, "I had desired the same regarding you. Then
proceed further towards the Imam so that he may
include you among his companions as the other
preceding you have done, so that I too may consider you.
And at this moment, if there would have been with me
someone else nearer to me than you, I would have sent
him to the battlefield before me, so as to mourn his death
and earn abundant reward. This is the day of our last
actions, for after today there will be no actions but only
accounting."
Then Shawzib advanced further and saluted the Imam
and fought, until he was martyred. (May Allah's Mercy and
Blessings be upon him). Shakir is a clan of Yemen and a branch
of the clan of Hamadan, which reaches Shakir bin Rabi'ah bin
Malik. Abis himself was from the above clan, while Shawzib
was his retainer, meaning that Shawzib was staying along with
him or was his confederate and not his servant or a freed
retainer, as is assumed by some. On the contrary, our Shaikh,
the Traditionist (Husain) Noori, the author of Mustadrakul
Wasael, says that perhaps the status of Shawzib might be
higher than that of Abis, for it is said regarding him, that he
(Shawzib) was one of the foremost in Shia'hism.
(Tabari) Then Abis bin Abi Shabeeb told Imam Husain
(A.S.) that, "O Aba Abdillah! There in none upon the earth,
among my relatives and others, who is more dear and
beloved in my eyes than you. If I had the power to defend
off oppression with anything more dear to me than my
life, I would surely have done so. Peace be upon you O
Aba Abdillah! I call upon Allah as my witness, that I am
(steadfast) upon the path of your father and yourself."
Saying this he unsheathed his sword with a wound which was
there on his forehead, and attacked the enemy.
Azdi says that Nameer bin Ramalah relates from Rabee'
bin Tameem Hamadani, who was present in the battle, that I
saw Abis proceeding towards the battlefield and recognised
him. I had seen him in numerous battles. He was a valorous
man, hence I said, "O people! Behold this is a lion among
the lions! He is the son of Abu Shabeeb! Thus no one
should confront him." Thus Abis started calling out, "Is
there no man among you"? Hearing this Umar bin Sa'ad
said, "Pound him with stones." Then people started hurling
stones at him, and when Abis saw this, he removed his armor
and helmet. Allah's praise upon the one who said, "He
fearlessly meets his neck with the clear-cut spears, and
he considers his head to be a helmet, when the spears
advance, he wears no other armour except that of
chastity."
And a Persian Poet has said, "He removed his armour
saying that I am a moon and not a fish, and he removed
his helmet saying that I am not a rooster, and he came
out without any armour or helmet, to embrace death
nakedly, similar to a bride."
Then he attacked the enemies, (the narrator says that) it is
as if I see him pushing back a group of two hundred men.
Then they advanced towards him from all sides and killed him
(May Allah's Mercy and Blessings be upon him). I saw his head
in the hands of a group of people who were quarreling among
themselves that they had killed him. Then they came to Umar
bin Sa'ad, who said, "Do not quarrel, for he is not killed by
any one man", and dispersed them back.
Martyrdom of Abul Sha'sa Kindi
Azdi says that Fuzayl bin Khadeej Kindi narrated to me,
that Abul Sha'sa Yazeed bin Ziyad (or Muhajir) Kindi, who was
from the clan of Bani Bahdula, knealt down in front of Imam
Husain (A.S.) and shot a hundred arrows towards the enemies,
out of which only five arrows missed the target, while he was a
master archer. Whenever he shot an arrow, he exclaimed, "I
am the son of Bahdula! A horseman of Arjalah"! Imam
Husain (A.S.) said regarding him, "O Allah! Make firm his
archery and offer Paradise to him as his reward."
When he had exhausted all the arrows, he arose and said,
"Only five of my arrows have gone waste, while it is
known to me that I have killed five men." Abul Sha'sa
Kindi was among the group to be martyred former