Rafed English
site.site_name : Rafed English

As THE CARAVAN of the Holy Imam proceeded, suddenly the men in the forefront cried aloud 'Allah° Akbar' (God the Greatest). Husain smiled and asked what the matter was and what had made the people glorify God all of a sudden; what was the occasion for it. People submitted that a garden is sighted which usually was not found on that route. Husain smiled and told the people to look ahead carefully. Shortly afterwards the men reported to the Holy Imam saying that it was not a garden but an army coming towards them. It was a contingent of Yazid's army which had been sent under the command of a famous Commander 'Hue to arrest the move of Husain and divert the course to Kufa or Damascus or to fight and kill the Holy Imam.

When the contingent of the Yazidian forces under 'Hue reached the caravan of the Holy Imam, both the men and the animals were dying of thirst-I laving exhausted the store of water they had, the whole regiment was practically trapped in the burning desert with the heat from all sides roasting their bodies. The whole army was about to perish. They could not get any trace of water anywhere for miles together. Hur and his men, instead of capturing Husain or attacking the Caravan, shouted aloud in appealing voices 'Thirst! thirst!' water, and begged the Holy Imam to quench their thirst first. The Holy Imam at once ordered the whole of the stored water to be placed at the disposal of the enemy army under Hur. Hur, his soldiers and all the animals of the army were fully served and were rescued from the jaws of death.

When the enemy had quenched their thirst, Husain asked Hur, the purpose of his coming out into such a killing heat in the desert. Whether the expedition was for him or against him. Hur related his object and also said that he was there not to allow the Holy Imam to move from that place. The Caravan stopped.

Hur was a good man, noble and a gallant officer, but could not allow Husain to have his way, in the presence of his men, for he feared that they would bring calamity upon him. Without the knowledge of his men, Hur begged the Holy Imam to have his own way as if without the knowledge of his men to some direction and to facilitate this he camped his regiment a little away from Husain's camp. Husain had to accept Hur's offer and direct his Caravan to move on, but to none did he mention the destination. The Holy Imam's Caravan moved on but none knew to what destination it was bound for. It was a mysterious move divinely guided by the will of the Lord, to fulfil the Great Sacrifice destined to take place in the seed of Abraham.

Adapted from the book: "Husain; The Saviour of Islam" by: "S.V. Mir Ahmed Ali"