Imam Husayn's Arrival in Karbala

By: Ali Hussain Jalali, Chicago, USA
At Karbala', Hurr and his army blocked the caravan of Imam Husayn from going any farther. Hurr said, "This is near the river and you cannot go farther."
The horses of the Imam's group stopped, and Imam Husayn asked Zuhayr, "What is the name of this place"
Zuhayr answered, "Taf."
The Imam asked, "Is there any other name for this place?"
Zuhayr said, "It is also called Karbala'."
The Imam's eyes watered and he said, "O, God! I seek refuge with God from Karb (grief) and Bala (tribulation). Here is the place in which we will set our camp; here is the place where our blood will be shed. Here is the place where our graves will be. This is what my grandfather has told me."

EVENTS OF KARBALA'
On the second day of the holy month of Muharram, sixty-one years after the Prophet's migration from Mecca to Medinah, his grandson, Imam Husayn, gathered all of his relatives and family and said, "O God! We, the family of the Prophet Muhammad, were chased out of our homes in the city of our Prophet (Medinah). The children of Umayya harmed us. O, Lord! Secure our rights for us and help us against the unjust people."
Then he faced his followers and said, "People are slaves of this world. The religion is just what they say. They use it as long as it provides them with their living. When they are tested, the true religious people are few."
Then he said, "All of you know what has happened to us and you know how the world has changed its face towards us. The good is now considered bad and no good remains except for a little. You see that truth is not acted upon and the wrong is not prevented. Indeed, a believer does not wish anything but to meet his Lord. Indeed, I do not see death [for freedom] as but happiness and life with unjust people as nothing but grief."
When the Imam finished, Zuhayr stood up and said, "O, grandson of the Messenger of God! We heard your sermon. If the whole world was eternal, we would prefer to rise with you than to be in this world."
Burayr stood and said, "O the son of the Messenger of God! God has honored us to fight with you and may your grandfather be our interceder on the Day of Judgment."
Nafi' Ibn Hilal stood and said, "Your grandfather, the Messenger of God, lived among people, some of them were hypocrites, promising to help him, but in reality, they hid themselves to betray him, until he died. Your father 'Ali was in a similar situation. You are now among us in a similar situation. Whoever betrays you betrays no one but himself. You go wherever you go. We will be with you, whatever you face, East or West. Indeed, by God, we do not hesitate to meet our Lord. We speak from our hearts and from our minds. We follow whoever follows you and we are enemies of whoever is your enemy."
Then, the Imam asked the residents of the area, Nineveh and Ghadriyyah, to sell their property to him for 60,000 Dirhams.
He said, "All of the property is for you, on one condition, that whoever wants to visit my grave, you lead them to it."
The area was four miles by four miles. He let them keep the money and he gave the land back to them, then wrote a one-line letter to his brother, Muآ¦ammad Ibn al-Hanafiyyah, saying, "Indeed, the world seems not to be and the Hereafter is certain."
Meanwhile, Hurr wrote to Ibn Ziyad telling him of the events. Ibn Ziyad replied in a letter to Imam Husayn saying, "O Husayn, I have heard that you have settled in Karbala'. The leader of the faithful Yazid has written and ordered me not to sleep or be full with drink until I send you to your Lord or you accept my rule and the rule of Yazid."
The Imam read the letter and let it fall to the ground. After he dropped it he said, "People who want to please anyone but God will not be successful."
Ibn Ziyad's messenger asked for a reply and the Imam said, "He has no reply from me because the punishment of God is certain for him."
When the messenger came back to Ibn Ziyad and told him what happened, he became very angry. He stood up and ordered 'Umar Ibn Sa'd to march towards Karbala' with an army of 4,000 troops. He even wrote a promise for 'Umar Ibn Sa'd to appoint him as governor of Ray in Persia if he goes to Karbala' and kills Imam Husayn. When Ibn Ziyad finished writing, he extended his arm and mentioned for 'Umar to take it. 'Umar was reluctant and Ibn Ziyad took the paper back.
'Umar left the governor and gathered all of his friends to consult them. All of them warned him not to go. The son of his sister Hamzah Ibn Mughirah Ibn Shu'bah told him, "I ask you by God not to go and not to fight Imam Husayn even if you become governor of the whole world."
In the morning, he met with Ibn Ziyad and said, "I am not willing to go and fight Imam Husayn. I have brought for you a list of other people to send to fight the Imam."
Ibn Ziyad said, "I am not asking you to tell me whom to send to fight. If you do not want to go, you will not be the governor of Ray."
But, 'Umar Ibn Sa'd did not want to give up his chance to be governor of the rich city of Ray, so he accepted to go and fight Imam Husayn with 4,000 men.
In Karbala', 'Umar asked Azra Ibn Qays to go and meet the Imam and ask him why he is in Karbala'. Azra refused, because he was one of those who asked the Imam to come to Kufah.
Kathir Ibn Abdullah al-Shu'bi said, "I am going to meet the Imam and if you want me to kill him right' away, I will."
'Umar said, "No, just go and ask him why he is coming here."
Kathir went towards the Imam's camp but Abu Thumamah al-Sa'idi stopped him on his way.
Kathir said, "I have a message for the Imam."
Sa'idi said to him, "You give up your sword and you can go to see the Imam."
He refused, and when he tried continuing towards the Imam's camp, Sa'idi would not let him pass, and Kathir decided to go back. Then 'Umar sent Qurra Ibn Qays al-Hanbali. When he conveyed the message to the Imam, the Imam said, "Your people have written to me; therefore, I came. If you have changed your mind, I am going to leave."
Qurra went back to 'Umar and 'Umar wrote to Ibn Ziyad telling him what Imam Husayn said. Ibn Ziyad wrote a reply saying, "Tell Husayn and his followers to pay allegiance to Yazid. If he does so, we will think about what to do with him."
Then, Ibn Ziyad announced a public meeting in the main Masjid of Kufah and made a speech. He said, "O people! You know the people of Abi Sufyan and you know how they have served you, and you know this leader of the faithful Yazid. You know how helpful he is to his people. He serves them and gives them what they need; all of the roads are safe under his leadership as they were during his father's rule. His son, Yazid, honors people. He makes them rich! He has increased your salaries by a hundred times, and he has ordered me to increase them even more if you go to fight his enemy Husayn. Listen to him and obey him."
He immediately distributed money among the soldiers and then went to Nukhaylah. He camped there, and ordered Ibn Namr al-Tamimi and Hajjaj Ibn Abjar and Shimr Ibn Dhil-Jawshan and Shibth Ibn Rab'i to go and join 'Umar Ibn Sa'd. Shibth (one of those who wrote letters inviting the Imam) announced that he was sick.
Ibn Ziyad called him and told him, "You want to play a double trick. If we succeed, you will tell us you were sick and could not help us. To Husayn's people you will say you helped them. Come here so I can see for myself. My people tell me you are not sick."
When Ibn Ziyad saw him, he did not see any sign of sickness and ordered him to go immediately. After that, He ordered five hundred troops under the leadership of Zijr Ibn Qays at the gate of Kufah to prevent other people from leaving and helping the Imam.
However some were able to go. One of them was Amir Ibn Abi Salamah al-Dalani who crossed the gateway. When they tried to stop him, he fought with them and was able to reach Karbala' and fight to protect Imam Husayn.
By this time, Shimr left for Karbala' with 4,000 troops, Yazid Ibn Rikab with 2,000, Hosayn Ibn Numayr with 4,000, Shibth Ibn Rab'i with 1,000, Kalb Ibn Talha with 3,000, Hajjaj Ibn Abjar with 1,000, Madhair Ibn Rahinah with 3,000, and Nasr
Ibn Harshah with 2,000 fighters. By the 6th day of the month of Muharram, there were 20,000 troops under the leadership of 'Umar Ibn Sa'd, and Ibn Ziyad kept sending more troops until the total was 30,000 soldiers.
On the day of the 6th, Ibn Ziyad wrote to 'Umar Ibn Sa'd, "I would like to know your news every morning and every night until you finish Husayn."
'Umar immediately redistributed his army around the Euphrates to block the Imam's camp from access to water. The Imam could not bear to hear the children crying. They were not close enough to the river to drink, but the camp was close enough to see and smell the water. The Imam realized that the camp might even be close enough to have water underground. He used one of the tent poles and a hammer to dig a well, hammering the tent pole deeper and deeper until water sprang from the pipe. But, after some time, the water stopped.
Ibn Ziyad wrote to 'Umar Ibn Sa'd, "I heard that Husayn is digging a well. He and his followers drank from that well. The moment you receive my letter, prevent them from digging any wells and make it as difficult as possible for them!" He sent five hundred of his own troops to deliver the message and to guard the Euphrates.

THE SEVENTH OF MUHARRAM
The Imam and his followers were totally cut off from water and their throats burned from thirst. At this point the Imam asked 'Abbas to bring some water for the women and children. 'Abbas and twenty others each took a water skin and, during the
night, marched towards the Euphrates. 'Abbas was in the middle and all twenty around him to protect his water skin and Nafi' Ibn Hilal al-Bujali took the flag.
The guards at that part of the river asked, "Who is this?"
He said, "We came to drink water."
The soldiers answered, "Go drink water as much as you like, but do not carry any back for Husayn."
Nafi' replied, "By God, I am not going to drink a drop of water while Husayn and his family are thirsty!" He called on his people to go and get water. Some of them filled the water skins and the others fought. They were able to get water back to the camp, but a few bags of water are not much for a whole camp of men, women, and children, as well as horses and other animals.

THE EIGHTH OF MUHARRAM
The Imam sent Ibn Qurdah al-Ansari to 'Umar Ibn Sa'd to ask for a meeting between the two camps. He agreed and each of them came with twenty guards. The Imam said to his followers to wait behind, except for his brother 'Abbas and his son 'Ali. 'Umar Ibn Sa'd did the same leaving everyone behind except for his son and his slave.
The Imam said to 'Umar, "Are you going to fight with me? Do you not fear God on the Day of Judgment? You know who I am. Why do you not leave these people and join me?"
'Umar said, "I am afraid that my house will be demolished."
The Imam said, "I will rebuild it for you."
'Umar said, "I am afraid my village will be confiscated."
The Imam said, "I will give you a better village from my property in the Hijaz area."
'Umar said, "I have children and I am afraid Ibn Ziyad is going to kill them."
The Imam, knowing that his excuses were fake, said to 'Umar, "God is going to order someone to kill you in your bed and you will not get even a handful of the wheat of Iraq."
'Umar said sarcastically, "Barley is enough for me."
'Umar Ibn Sa'd sent a letter to Ibn Ziyad and in it he claimed, "The Imam agrees to return back to the place he came from or any other place in the army camp and be like one of the individual Muslims or come to the leader of the faithful Yazid and put his hand in his hand so they can see what they do to each other." He added, "That is the best solution for you and for the whole nation."
Ibn Ziyad gathered his council and said, "This is not a bad idea."
Shimr interrupted him, "No! This cannot be! If you do not get him now, you will not be able to get him again! He is weak now and you are now strong!"
Ibn Ziyad immediately wrote to 'Umar Ibn Sa'd "Indeed, I did not send you to Husayn as a mediator nor to give him promises. Look! If Husayn and his followers accept my rule, take them alive and send them to me. If they do not, attack them, kill them, and cut off their hands, feet, noses and other parts.
If Husayn is killed, march the horses on his chest and his back. I do not think that would hurt him after death! If you do so, you have your reward with us. If you do not, you must immediately resign and Shimr Ibn Dhil-Jawshan will be your replacement as the leader of the Army. I have ordered him to do so."
Shimr brought the letter to 'Umar Ibn Sa'd who read it and said, "You are responsible for this! We have planned for a solution and you destroyed it! Indeed, by God, Husayn is not going to submit. Indeed, the soul of his father is between his chest."
Shimr said, "Tell me, are you going to obey your leader or not?"
'Umar said, "I am going to do it, and I will not let you have that honor. You take leadership of the infantry."

SHIMR'S TRICK
Shimr had a distant relation to 'Abbas on his mother's side. He wanted to divide Imam Husayn's family. Shimr went near the Imam's camp and yelled in a loud voice, "Where are the children of our sister?"
'Abbas and his brothers did not answer when they heard him yelling. The Imam asked, "Why do you not answer him? He is your relative."
So, 'Abbas and his brothers went out and said, "What do you want? What is the matter with you?"
He said, "O children of my sister! You have clemency. Do not kill yourselves With Husayn. Come to the obedience of the leader of the faithful Yazid.''
'Abbas said, "God curse you and your clemency! You give us clemency and you do not give clemency to the grandson of the Prophet of God? And you are asking us to enter the obedience of the cursed people and those who are children of cursed people?"
Then, 'Abbas left him and came back to the tents.
When 'Abbas got back, Zuhayr went to him and said, "I would like to tell you a story. When your father wanted to marry, he went to his brother 'Aqil to choose for him a woman of a brave tribe. He wanted to have a brave child and your father wanted you for this day to help your brother."
'Abbas replied, "Are you trying to encourage me? Today, of all days! God knows what I am going to do today! To help my brother! My Imam!"
Then, Habib Ibn Muzahir al-Asadi asked permission from the Imam to go talk to his tribe, Banu Asad. The Imam gave him permission. He went and they recognized him. He asked them to come and help the Imam. Ninety of them went to join him, but one of the other tribes went and told the news to 'Umar Ibn Sa'd. 'Umar sent four hundred men to stop the ninety from reaching the Imam's camp. They fought and struggled to reach the Imam. Some were killed, others returned to their tribe, and only Habib made it back to the Imam's camp.

THE NIGHT OF THE NINTH
Thursday, the night of the ninth of Muharram, 'Umar ordered his entire army to attack the Imam's camp at once. The Imam was sitting, then said to his brother 'Abbas, "Go to them and see what they are up to."
'Abbas went with twenty followers. Among them were Zuhayr and Habib. They asked the army, and the army replied that the order of the governor came that they must obey him and his rule, or fight. 'Abbas went back to the Imam and told him.
Meanwhile, his people were preaching to the army of 'Umar. Habib Ibn Muzahir said, "Indeed, by God, you are the worst people. Who are you going to kill? The children of your Prophet? Those who spend all of their time in worshipping God?
The head of the army said, "You just want to show yourself as a good person."
Zuhayr said, "God has made people different. Do not help the unjust people in killing the righteous people."
The head of the army said, "But, Zuhayr, you are not a Follower!" Zuhayr said, "Do you not see I am with them now? Is this not enough for you to see that I am a Follower? God knows that I did not invite him and I did not write him a letter and I did not promise him anything, but when I saw him and recognized him and knew who his enemy was, I decided to be on his side."
'Abbas came from the Imam with a message, "Leave us alone for one night. Delay the fight for one night so that we can pray to our Lord and recite the Holy Qur'an."
'Umar hesitated to do it but some of his army said, "We should let them. Even if they were non-Muslims, we would have let them."
'Umar knew that he would not have the support of his army if he ordered to attack immediately, so he answered, "I know that if I give him this, they will be stronger tomorrow. However, I will let them delay the war one night.

THE IMAM'S CAMP ON THE NINTH
The Imam gathered all of his followers and gave a sermon. He praised God and then said, "I praise God that He has given us the Prophet and He has taught us the Qur'an and religion. He has given us ears and eyes and hearts, and he has not made us idol-worshippers. Indeed, I do not know any followers better than my followers nor any family better than my family. May God reward you all. Indeed, my grandfather has told me that I will be in Iraq and I will be killed and the time has come. Indeed, I think tomorrow will be the decisive day with these people. I have allowed you all to leave me alone and go on your own way. During this night, any one of you may take your horses and camels and leave. Any of you may take one of my family and leave and you may scatter in the cities and villages. Indeed, I am the one they want. When they get me, they will not go after anyone else."
After this sermon, his brothers and children and relatives said, "We will never leave you! We do not want to live after you are gone and we do not want to see that day!"
The Imam turned his face to the children of 'Aqil and said, "It is enough for you that your father was killed, you go."
They said, "By which face will we face other people and say to them, we left our master, the best of our family, and we did not help him when he needed our help' Indeed, we are here to sacrifice ourselves for you. Life after you is the worst life."
Ibn 'Awsajah said, "If we leave you alone, what would be our answer to God' I swear by God, I will not leave them until I hit them in their chests with my spear and fight them with my sword, and if I do not have a sword, I will throw rocks on them until I die with you!"
Sa'id Ibn 'Abdullah said, "We are not going to leave you until we prove that we have honored the Messenger of God by honoring you. By God, If I die and come back to life, and if I am burned and come back to life again seventy times, I will not leave you until I die for you."
Zuhayr Ibn al-Qayn said, "I wish to be killed in your way and come back to life and be killed 1000 times to protect you!"
After others said similar things, the Imam said, "Jazakumullah Khayra (may God reward you well)", and then said, "I am going to be killed tomorrow and all of you will be killed and no one among you will remain except my son 'Ali al-Sajjad."
When they heard that 'Ali al-Sajjad would survive the massacre, they all screamed in one voice, "All Praises to God! Praise God who has honored us to help you and honored us to die with you!"
Then, after the people became quiet, the Imam said calmly, "The good news is heaven."

THE NIGHT BEFORE THE TENTH
This was the worst night for the People of the House of the Prophet. Women and children cried, the children screamed for water, and everyone was getting ready for the morning.
Suddenly, Burayr said a joke to Ibn 'Abdul Rahman al-Ansari. 'Abdul Rahman said, "This is not the time for joking around."
Burayr stopped laughing and said, "God knows I am not a joker, but I am happy that we are going to prove our faith tomorrow, and the time has come."
Habib Ibn Muzahir started laughing and Ibn al-Hamdani said, "This is not the right time for laughing."
Habib laughed and said, "This is the best time for laughing! We are so close to entering Heaven!"
They all started to devote themselves to prayer. The Imam was repeatedly reading, "And let not those who disbelieve think that whatever we increase for them is the best for them. Indeed, we increase it for them so they increase in sin. And they have a humiliating punishment." 1
One of the guards heard the Imam and said, "We are the best."
Burayr replied, "O outlaw! If you were the best, you would be with the grandson of the Prophet of God. Repent from your sins and join us."
The man mocked him and said, "No, I am just a witness."
It is reported that on this night, thirty-two people joined the Imam's camp when they saw that the Imam and his followers were reading the Holy Qur'an and praying and devoting themselves to God.
The Imam recited a poem:
"O life! How many friends you have in the morning,
That you leave in the evening.
Some are dead, some are alone, and no one is replaced.
Everything is up to God.
Only He remains forever."
When the Imam's son 'Ali al-Sajjad heard his father reciting this poem twice, he realized that there was no hope for peace with the army.
When Zaynab heard the poem, she cried and said, "Today my mother and my father and brother died."
The Imam immediately faced her and tried to comfort her, saying, "O sister! Be patient. You know that everyone dies. People on the earth die, people in the heavens die, no mortal remains forever."
Then, he said to his sister and his daughters and the women of the camp, "When I die, do not tear your clothes, do not harm your faces, or speak any nonsense." And he told them to follow 'Ali al-Sajjad as their leader.
Then, he ordered all of his followers to attach their tents to each other, so they can face the enemy in only one direction. He also said to dig a trench behind the tents and ordered to make a fire in it when the attack starts, so the horses of the enemy cannot attack from behind.
Later in the night the Imam went to scout the area. Nafi' followed him. The Imam asked him, "Why did you come after me?"
He said, "I was worried that they might attack you in the darkness."
The Imam said, "I came to make sure there are no hidden assassins around here."
Then he took Nafi's hand and said, "Nafi', there is only one soul and one life. We are going to die tomorrow. Look, there is nobody between these two hills here, why do you not run away?"
Nafi' fell down to the feet of the Imam and asked, "Why do you not want me to stay with you at this moment? By God! I am not going to leave you until I die here with you!"
Then, the Imam went to the tent of Zaynab. Nafi' followed him and overheard the conversation between them. Zaynab asked him, "Have you talked to your followers? Are you sure they are going to remain loyal to you?"
Imam Husayn said, "I have tested them, I found no one among them but the bravest of their tribes. Each of them wants to die for this cause like an infant who wants milk from his mother. When Nafi' heard that, he cried and went and told Habib what he heard.
Habib said, "Indeed, by God, we do not want to do anything without his permission. If we did not need his permission I would have been the first to die!"
Nafi' said, "I see all of the women are in one voice with him."
Habib called all of the men together and told them what Nafi' told him. All replied in the same way, that each of them wants to be first to be killed, but they do not want to act without the Imam's permission, and they assured Habib that they would not do anything contrary to the Imam's decision. Habib suggested that they all go to the women and express their attitude. When all went to the tent and expressed themselves, all of the women started to wail and cry.
Just before dawn, the Imam started to get sleepy. When he woke up, he said, "I saw my grandfather in my dream and he said: You are the martyr of this nation and tomorrow you will be with me."