STRAIGHTPATHMONTHLY December 2011
So your thirst took you to drink of death,
As if your quenching rested in the foe's arrows.
O tears of mine, the life of my heart!
My greatest calamity that you had to depart.
I wished you would be the best to succeed
And a solace for me from their every vile deed.
Never did I think an arrow would wean,
Till my days showed him how one could be so mean.
Al-Hussain (A) advanced towards the enemy raising his
sword, losing all hope of survival, challenging them to a duel.
He killed all those who accepted his challenge, and their
number was quite high. Then he charged on the army's east
flank as he recited these verses:
Death is better than accepting ignominy,
While ignominy is better than the Fire!
and on the left flank as he recited:
I am al-Hussain son of 'Ali
I decided never to bow nor bend,
Protecting my father's family,
Remaining on the Prophet's creed.
'Abdullah Ibn 'Ammar Ibn Yaghuth said, "Never have I
seen someone surrounded by a huge number of enemies
and whose son is slaughtered, and so are his family and
companions, and who still maintained his composure,
remained relentless, and stayed courageous more than
al-Hussain (A). Men kept fleeing in front of him
whenever he charged at them, and none kept his
ground."
'Umar Ibn Sa'd shouted to everyone saying, "This is the
son of the quarrelsome one, the one with the stomach!
This is the son of the killer of the Arabs! Attack him from
all directions!" Four thousand arrows were at once shot at
him, and he was forced to alight from his horse. Hussain a.s
shouted at them, "O followers of Abu Sufyan! If you have
no religion at all, and yet you fear the returning to your
Maker, then at least you should remain free in your life,
water and did not drink then went in the direction of the
and you should go back to your lineage, if you are Arabs tent.
as you claim!"
Al-Shimr addressed him saying, "What are you, son of
Their blood quenches the earth's thirst
Fatima (A), saying?" He (A)said, "I am the one who is
As his insides from thirst were burning.
fighting you, and women are not held accountable; so,
Had the burning of his heart been made manifest,
keep your rogues away from them and stop them from
The most solid of objects would be melting.
harming my women as long as I am alive." Said he:
The heavens mourns him with blood.
"Face me, not my women, "My time is come, destiny is
Had it only wept water for his thirsty heart!
done."Al-Shimr said, "We shall grant you that."
O how my heart burns for you,
He became the target of the fighters, and the fighting
O son of Muhammad's daughter!
intensified. His thirst intensified, too. From the direction of the
O how the foes were able to achieve their goals!
Euphrates, he attacked 'Amr Ibn al-Hajjaj who was surrounded
They prohibited you from reaching
by four thousand men, clearing them from the water and
The Euphrates river all the while,
forcing his horse into the river. When his horse was about to
So, may people after you never enjoy
drink, Imam Hussain a.s said to it, "You are thirsty, and so
The Euphrates or the Nile.
am I, yet I shall not drink before you." The horse raised his
head as if he understood what the Imam a.s had said to him.
***
When Hussain a.s stretched his hand to drink, a man asked
him, "Do you enjoy water while the sanctity of
yourwomen has been violated?" He, therefore, spilled the
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