Fatima, al-Husayn's daughter,8 delivered a speech saying,
“All Praise is due to Allah, as much as the number of the sands and of the stones, as much as the ‘Arsh weighs up to the ground. I praise Him, believe in Him, and rely upon Him, and I testify that there is no god other than Allah, the One and Only God, there is no partner with Him, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, and that his offspring have been slaughtered by the Euphrates river neither on account of blood revenge nor out of dispute over inheritance.
Lord! I seek refuge with You against telling a lie about You and against saying anything contrary to what
You have revealed of taking many a covenant regarding the vicegerency of ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib (‘a), the man whose right is confiscated and who was killed without having committed a sin, just as his son was only yesterday killed, at one of the houses of Allah, the most Exalted One, at the hands of those who give Islam nothing but lip service.
Destruction may afflict their heads that did not ward off from him any injustice as long as he lived nor at his death, till Allah Almighty took his soul to Him while his essence was praised, his dealing with others was commendable, his merits were well known, and his beliefs well admitted by everyone. Never did he ever accept anyone's blame nor the criticism of any critic in doing what is right.
Lord! You guided him to Islam even when he was a child and praised his virtues when he grew up. Never did he ever cease enjoining others to follow Your Path and that of Your Messenger (S). He always paid no heed to the riches of this world. He always desired the hereafter, a man who carried out jihad for Your Cause.
With him were You pleased, so You chose him and guided him to a Straight Path. O people of Kufa! O people of treachery, of betrayal and conceit! We are members of a Household tried on your account by Allah, afflicted by you.
He made our dealing with you good, and He entrusted His knowledge to us, and He bestowed upon us its comprehension; so, we are the bastion of His knowledge, understanding and wisdom, and His Arguments on the earth which He created for the good of His servants!
Allah bestowed upon us His blessings and greatly honoured us with His Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his Progeny, favouring us over many of those whom He created.
Yet you called us liars and apostates, and in your eyes you deemed killing us as lawful, and so is looting our possessions, as if we were the offspring of the Turks or of Kabul, just as you killed our grandfather in the past. Your swords drip with our blood, the blood of Ahl al-Bayt, out of past animosity.
Thus have your eyes been cooled, and thus have your hearts been elated, telling lies about Allah and out of evil plans which you hatched, while Allah is the very best of planners. So do not be carried away with your excitement because of our blood that you have spilled or our wealth that you have snatched away, for what has befallen us is truly a great tragedy and a momentous calamity
“In a Book even before We created them; surely this is easy for Allah, so that you may not be grieved because of what you missed nor feel happy because of what you acquired, and Allah does not love anyone who is conceited, boastful” (Qur’an, 57:23).
May you be ruined! Expect to be cursed and to be tormented, for it seems as though it has already befallen you, and more and more signs of Wrath are on their way to you from the heavens till He makes you taste of the chastisement and make some of you taste of the might of others, then on the Day of Judgment shall you all remain for eternity in the painful torment on account of the injustice with which you have treated us; the curse of Allah be upon the oppressors.
Woe unto you! Do you know what hand you have stabbed, what soul found fighting us agreeable? Rather, by what feet did you walk towards us with the intention to fight us? Your hearts became hardened, and Allah sealed your hearts, your hearing, and your vision, and Satan inspired to you and dictated, placing a veil over your eyes, so you can never be guided.
Destruction is your lot, O people of Kufa! What a legacy of the Prophet (S) is standing before you, and what blood revenge will he seek from you on account of your enmity towards his brother, ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib (‘a), my grandfather, and towards his good and righteous offspring, yet you even brag about it saying:
We killed ‘Ali and the sons of ‘Ali,
With Indian swords and spears,
And we placed their women in captivity
Like the Turks! We crushed them with severity.
May stones and pebbles fill your mouths! You brag about killing people whom Allah chose and purified with a perfect purification and from whom He kept away all abomination. Suppress it, then, and squat just as your fathers did, for each will get the rewards of what he earns and will be punished for what he committed.
You envied us, woe unto you, for what Allah, the most Exalted One, favoured and preferred us. Such is Allah's favour: He bestows His favours upon whomsoever He pleases, and surely with Allah are great favours. For whoever Allah does not make a noor, he shall have no noor at all.”
Voices were raised with weeping and wailing, and they said to her, “Enough, enough, O daughter of the pure ones, for you have burnt our hearts and necks,” so she took to silence.
“All Praise is due to Allah, as much as the number of the sands and of the stones, as much as the ‘Arsh weighs up to the ground. I praise Him, believe in Him, and rely upon Him, and I testify that there is no god other than Allah, the One and Only God, there is no partner with Him, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, and that his offspring have been slaughtered by the Euphrates river neither on account of blood revenge nor out of dispute over inheritance.
Lord! I seek refuge with You against telling a lie about You and against saying anything contrary to what
You have revealed of taking many a covenant regarding the vicegerency of ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib (‘a), the man whose right is confiscated and who was killed without having committed a sin, just as his son was only yesterday killed, at one of the houses of Allah, the most Exalted One, at the hands of those who give Islam nothing but lip service.
Destruction may afflict their heads that did not ward off from him any injustice as long as he lived nor at his death, till Allah Almighty took his soul to Him while his essence was praised, his dealing with others was commendable, his merits were well known, and his beliefs well admitted by everyone. Never did he ever accept anyone's blame nor the criticism of any critic in doing what is right.
Lord! You guided him to Islam even when he was a child and praised his virtues when he grew up. Never did he ever cease enjoining others to follow Your Path and that of Your Messenger (S). He always paid no heed to the riches of this world. He always desired the hereafter, a man who carried out jihad for Your Cause.
With him were You pleased, so You chose him and guided him to a Straight Path. O people of Kufa! O people of treachery, of betrayal and conceit! We are members of a Household tried on your account by Allah, afflicted by you.
He made our dealing with you good, and He entrusted His knowledge to us, and He bestowed upon us its comprehension; so, we are the bastion of His knowledge, understanding and wisdom, and His Arguments on the earth which He created for the good of His servants!
Allah bestowed upon us His blessings and greatly honoured us with His Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his Progeny, favouring us over many of those whom He created.
Yet you called us liars and apostates, and in your eyes you deemed killing us as lawful, and so is looting our possessions, as if we were the offspring of the Turks or of Kabul, just as you killed our grandfather in the past. Your swords drip with our blood, the blood of Ahl al-Bayt, out of past animosity.
Thus have your eyes been cooled, and thus have your hearts been elated, telling lies about Allah and out of evil plans which you hatched, while Allah is the very best of planners. So do not be carried away with your excitement because of our blood that you have spilled or our wealth that you have snatched away, for what has befallen us is truly a great tragedy and a momentous calamity
“In a Book even before We created them; surely this is easy for Allah, so that you may not be grieved because of what you missed nor feel happy because of what you acquired, and Allah does not love anyone who is conceited, boastful” (Qur’an, 57:23).
May you be ruined! Expect to be cursed and to be tormented, for it seems as though it has already befallen you, and more and more signs of Wrath are on their way to you from the heavens till He makes you taste of the chastisement and make some of you taste of the might of others, then on the Day of Judgment shall you all remain for eternity in the painful torment on account of the injustice with which you have treated us; the curse of Allah be upon the oppressors.
Woe unto you! Do you know what hand you have stabbed, what soul found fighting us agreeable? Rather, by what feet did you walk towards us with the intention to fight us? Your hearts became hardened, and Allah sealed your hearts, your hearing, and your vision, and Satan inspired to you and dictated, placing a veil over your eyes, so you can never be guided.
Destruction is your lot, O people of Kufa! What a legacy of the Prophet (S) is standing before you, and what blood revenge will he seek from you on account of your enmity towards his brother, ‘Ali Ibn Abu Talib (‘a), my grandfather, and towards his good and righteous offspring, yet you even brag about it saying:
We killed ‘Ali and the sons of ‘Ali,
With Indian swords and spears,
And we placed their women in captivity
Like the Turks! We crushed them with severity.
May stones and pebbles fill your mouths! You brag about killing people whom Allah chose and purified with a perfect purification and from whom He kept away all abomination. Suppress it, then, and squat just as your fathers did, for each will get the rewards of what he earns and will be punished for what he committed.
You envied us, woe unto you, for what Allah, the most Exalted One, favoured and preferred us. Such is Allah's favour: He bestows His favours upon whomsoever He pleases, and surely with Allah are great favours. For whoever Allah does not make a noor, he shall have no noor at all.”
Voices were raised with weeping and wailing, and they said to her, “Enough, enough, O daughter of the pure ones, for you have burnt our hearts and necks,” so she took to silence.
Notes:
8. Fatima daughter of al-Husayn (‘a), was a great personality. She enjoys a great status in the creed. Her father, the Master of Martyrs, testifies to this fact. When al-Hasan II approached him asking him for the hand of either of his two daughters, he (‘a), as we are told on p. 202 of Nur al-Absar, said to him, “I choose for you Fatima, for she, more than anyone else, is like my mother Fatima daughter of the Messenger of Allah”. As far as the creed is concerned, she stays awake all night long offering prayers, and the daytime she spends fasting. In beauty, she looks like the huris with large lovely eyes.” On p. 442, Vol. 12, of Ibn Hajar's book titled Tahthib al-Tahthib, she is said to have narrated hadith from her father, brother Zaynul-’Abidin, aunt Zainab, Ibn ‘Abbas, and Asma’ daughter of ‘Umays. Her sons, ‘Abdullah, Ibrahim, and Husayn, and her daughter, Umm Ja’far, offspring of al-Hasan II, quote her hadith. Abul-Miqdam quotes her hadith through his mother.
Zuhayr Ibn Mu’awiyah quotes her hadith through his mother. On p. 425 of Khulasat Tahthib al-Kamal, it is stated that the authors of the sunan books, including al-Tirmithi, Abu Dawud, and al-Nasa’i, have all quoted her ahadith. So does the author of Musnad ‘Ali. Ibn Majah al-Qazwini does likewise. Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani says, “She is mentioned in the book of funerals in Bukhari's Sahih, and Ibn Hibbban holds her reliable, adding that she died in 110 A.H./729 A.D.” So do both authors, al-Yafi’i, on p. 234, Vol. 1, of his book Mir’at al-Jinan, and Ibn al-’Imad, on p. 39, Vol. 1, of his book Shatharat. Based on what Ibn Hajar says in his book Tahthib al-Tahthib, she must have lived for almost ninety years, placing her year of birth at about 30 A.H./651 A.D.
Hence, she must have been almost thirty years old during the Battle of al-Taff. She died seven years before her sister Sukayna. On p. 35, Vol. 4, of Ibn al-Athir's book Al-Kamil, and also according to p. 267, Vol. 6, of al-Tabari's Tarikh, Fatima was older than her sister Sukayna. On p. 18 of Tahqiq al-Nusra ila Ma’alim Dar al-Hijra by Abu Bakr Ibn al-Husayn Ibn ‘Umar al-Maraghi (d. 816 A.H./1414 A.D.), one of the signs of her lofty status with Allah is that when al-Walid Ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ordered to house the chambers within the parameters of the Mosque, Fatima daughter of al-Husayn (‘a) went out to al-Harra where she had a house built for her. Then she ordered a well to be dug up; a mountain stone appeared in it, and she was informed of it.
She made her ablution then sprinkled the leftover water on it. After that, it was not difficult at all to dig that well. People used to seek blessings through the use of its water, calling it “Zamzam”. On p. 474, Vol. 8, of Ibn Sa’d's Tabaqat (Sadir's edition), Fatima daughter of al-Husayn (‘a) used to use knots on a string as her rosary bead. In the manuscript of my book Naqd al-Tarikh, I cited the historians who claimed that she married a follower of ‘Othman, proving that Muhammad al-Dibaj [her fabricated husband] was a fictitious character created by the pens of those who follow al-Zubayr.
Zuhayr Ibn Mu’awiyah quotes her hadith through his mother. On p. 425 of Khulasat Tahthib al-Kamal, it is stated that the authors of the sunan books, including al-Tirmithi, Abu Dawud, and al-Nasa’i, have all quoted her ahadith. So does the author of Musnad ‘Ali. Ibn Majah al-Qazwini does likewise. Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani says, “She is mentioned in the book of funerals in Bukhari's Sahih, and Ibn Hibbban holds her reliable, adding that she died in 110 A.H./729 A.D.” So do both authors, al-Yafi’i, on p. 234, Vol. 1, of his book Mir’at al-Jinan, and Ibn al-’Imad, on p. 39, Vol. 1, of his book Shatharat. Based on what Ibn Hajar says in his book Tahthib al-Tahthib, she must have lived for almost ninety years, placing her year of birth at about 30 A.H./651 A.D.
Hence, she must have been almost thirty years old during the Battle of al-Taff. She died seven years before her sister Sukayna. On p. 35, Vol. 4, of Ibn al-Athir's book Al-Kamil, and also according to p. 267, Vol. 6, of al-Tabari's Tarikh, Fatima was older than her sister Sukayna. On p. 18 of Tahqiq al-Nusra ila Ma’alim Dar al-Hijra by Abu Bakr Ibn al-Husayn Ibn ‘Umar al-Maraghi (d. 816 A.H./1414 A.D.), one of the signs of her lofty status with Allah is that when al-Walid Ibn ‘Abd al-Malik ordered to house the chambers within the parameters of the Mosque, Fatima daughter of al-Husayn (‘a) went out to al-Harra where she had a house built for her. Then she ordered a well to be dug up; a mountain stone appeared in it, and she was informed of it.
She made her ablution then sprinkled the leftover water on it. After that, it was not difficult at all to dig that well. People used to seek blessings through the use of its water, calling it “Zamzam”. On p. 474, Vol. 8, of Ibn Sa’d's Tabaqat (Sadir's edition), Fatima daughter of al-Husayn (‘a) used to use knots on a string as her rosary bead. In the manuscript of my book Naqd al-Tarikh, I cited the historians who claimed that she married a follower of ‘Othman, proving that Muhammad al-Dibaj [her fabricated husband] was a fictitious character created by the pens of those who follow al-Zubayr.
Adapted from: "Maqtal al-Husayn; Martyrdom Epic of Imam al-Husayn (a.s.)" by: "Abd al-Razzaq al-Muqarram"
