The Mahdi Times December Issue | Page 32

STRAIGHTPATHMONTHLY December 2011 32 you O son of the Prophet of Allah"! Imam would reply to their salutations and would say, "Very soon we too shall follow you." Then he recited the following verse of the Qur'an; "Of the believers are the men who are true to what they covenanted with Allah, of them is he who fulfilled his vow and of them is he who awaits (its fulfilment), and they have changed not in the least."[67]  "The cup of death rotates above them, and they have closed their eyes against the world, similar to an inebriate, their bodies have reached death upon the earth in his love, and they souls have ascended in the curtains upon the high heavens, then they have not occupied a place except near their friend, but they have not ascended due to anxiety."  Sayyed ibne Tawoos says that the companions of Imam Husain (A.S.) competed with one another to sacrifice themselves for him. They were such as has been said regarding them: "They are group who are called to defend at times of anxiety, and some of the soldiers are occupied in striking with the spears and some to gather the valorous, they have worn their hearts upon their armours, as if they preceded one another in sacrificing their lives."  Shaikh Ibne Nima says regarding their valour, self-sacrifice and their defence (of the son of the Prophet of Allah): "When they lift up their whitish coloured lances and resolve firmly, then the Lions of the thicket flee away in fright, to the name of the mill-stone of the ferocious battle are warrior weapons, when they lay siege their adversaries are in a loss, when they dig their legs in the battlefield, then their promised place is the day of Qiyamah."  Ibne Abil Hadeed in his Sharhe Nahjul Balagha says, that a person who was among the army of Umar bin Sa'ad in Karbala was asked, "Woe be to you! You have murdered the progeny of the Prophet of Allah"? To which he replied, "Put stones in between your teeth (keep quite)! If you had seen (that day) what we saw, you too would have done what we did. Valorous persons equipped with swords, who were similar to the male Lions, attacked us. They would fling the valourous on the left and right and would fall upon death. They would not accept protection, nor be allured by wealth. There was nothing for them except acquiring dominion or death. If we had held back our hands from them even for a short time, they would have annihilated our entire army. What would we have done at that moment"?  Shaikh Abu Umro Kashshi says that Habib was one of those seventy men, who had assisted Imam Husain (A.S.). They were forwarding their chests in front of the lances and their faces (in front) of the edge of the swords. They were offered protection and abundant wealth, but they refused to accept the same saying, "We do not have any excuse to offer the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.) that we remained alive while Imam Husain (A.S.) was killed, until we all are killed."  I (the Author) say that, The companions of our Master Imam Husain (A.S.) hold a great right upon all the Muslims. It is appropriate that here we quote a short couplet from their praises thus fulfilling an insignificant part of their rights, for they were similar to what has been said by their eulogisers. [Here the author quotes two couplets, which I forego]  (Here ends the first volume of Nafasul Mahmoom to be followed InshAllah by the second one).  _________________________ Notes  [61] Surah al Qamar: 4-5.  [62] Surah al Ahzab: 23  [63] Salatul Khawf - Daily Prayers of a person, which in war or similar circumstances, is offered in a special and shortened way.  [64] Surah al Mo'min: 30 - 33.  [65] The entire episode of the martyrdom of Umro bin Humaq has been discussed separately in Section 9 under Chapter 2 of this book.  [66] Refer to the entire episode in Section 18 of this book.  [67] Surah al Ahzab: 23