Seerah

He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Umar al-Je'abi reported from Abul Abbas Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Saeed, who reported from Yahya b. Zakariyya, who reported from Uthman b. Isa, who reported from Ahmad b. Sulayman and Imran b. Marwan, from Sama'ah b. Mehran who said:

I heard Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Muhammad (AS) say: "The person mentioned by Allah in the verse: 'And mention in the Book, Ismail; indeed he was true to his promise, and he was a messenger Prophet.' (Maryarn V:54) he was the one who Allah tested by his people, so they pulled off the skin from his face and scalp. Then Allah sent His angel unto him, who said: "The Lord of the entire creation greets you with peace; and says: I have seen what your people have done to you, so ask Me whatever you want." He said: "O Lord of the worlds, I have an ideal in the person of al-Husain b. Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon them." Then Abu Abdillah said: "He was not Ismail the son of Ibrahim, peace be upon our Prophet and upon both of them."

Asma B. Aqil laments Al-Husain

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad b. Imran al-Marzbani reported to me from Ahmad b. Muhammad, who reported from al-Hasan b. Ulail al-Anzi, who reported from Abdul Karim Ibn Muhammad, who reported from Ali b. Salemah, from Abu Aslam Muhammad b. Fakhar, from Abu Hayyaj Abdullah b. Amir, who said:

When the sad news of al-Husain's, peace be upon him, martyrdom reached Madinah, Asma bint Aqil b. Abi Talib came out with a group of her ladies and came to the grave of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, and clinging to it, sobbed bitterly. Then, addressing the Muhajireen and the Ansar, she said:

"What will you say when the Prophet says to you
on the Day of Judgement, and the truth will indeed be heard.
'You deserted my family members, or were you absent,'
and the truth will be brought together before the master.
'You had forsaken them at the hands of the oppressors,
so you have no one to intercede on your behalf before Allah.'
There was no one (of you) at Kerbala on the day
When death crept to them, and none was there to defend them!"
He said: "We never saw as many wailing men and women on any other day."

Ummu Salemah and Martyrdom of Al-Husain

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Marzbani reported to me from Ahmed b. Muhammad al-Jawhari, who reported from al-Hasan b.Ulail al-Anzi, from Abdul Karim b. Muhammad, who reported from Hamza b. al-Qasim al-Alawi, who reported from Abdul Azeem b. Abdillah al-Alawi, from al-Hasan b. al-Husain al-Arani, from Ghiyath b. Ibrahim, that:

Al-Sadiq Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: Ummu Salemah, may Allah bless her with mercy, once woke up weeping. She was asked: "What makes you cry?" She said: "My son al-Husain has been killed last night. And that is because I have never seen the Prophet in the dream till last night. I saw him pale and in profound grief." So I asked: "How come I see you in this state of grief, O messenger of Allah!" He said: "I have been digging the graves of al-Husain and his companions tonight."

The Jinns and Al-Husain

He said: Abu Hafs Umar b. Muhammad reported to me from Ali b. al-Abbas, who reported from Abdul Karim b. Muhammad, who reported from Sulaiman b. Muqbil al-Harith, who reported from Mahfooz b. al-Munzar, who reported from an elder of Banu Tameem, who lived at al-Rabiya.

He said: I heard my father say that they did not know of al-Husain's martyrdom till evening of Ashura. He said: I was sitting at al-Rabiya with some people from that district, and we heard a voice saying:

"By Allah, I have not come to you till I had seen at Kerbala,
the head cut off, with two dusty cheeks!
And around him, young men whose throats spurt out blood,
and like lamps spreading light in the darkness.
I prodded my camel (to run) so that I could meet them
before the reticent ones go to meet the Houris.
But the destiny prevented me, and Allah would fulfil it,
And the command of Allah was a determined fate.
Al-Husain was a lamp from which light was obtained.
Allah knows that I have never lied,
May Allah bless the body, which has been contained
by al-Husain's grave, as a good companion.
In the neighbourhood of the Prophet in the chambers,
and of Ali and al-Tayyar, pleased and satisfied."

So we said: "May Allah bless you with mercy, who are you?" He said: "My father and I are Jinn of Nasibayn. We intended to help al-Husain, peace be upon him, and assist him with our lives. So we proceeded from Haj, but reached him when they had been killed.

Zainab b. Ali's address at Kufa

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad b. Imran al-Marzbani reported from Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Jawhari, who reported from Muhammad b. Mahran, who reported from Musa b. Abdul Rehman al-Masrooq, from Umar b. Abdul Wahid, from Ismail b. Rashid who reported from Hazlam b. Sateer, who said:

I arrived at Kufa in Muharram of 61 Hijrah as Ali b. al-Husain was departing with the ladies from Kerbala, surrounded by the troops. People gathered to have a sight of them. When he approached with the ladies sitting on unsaddled camels, the women of Kufa began weeping and wailing. I heard Ali b. al-Husain say with a feeble voice as he was exhausted by ailment, and around his neck was a neckband, and his hands were tied to the neck. He said: "Beware, (if) these women are indeed weeping - then who killed us?" He said: And I saw Zainab b. Ali, peace be upon them, and I had never seen a lady with all her modesty being so eloquent. It seemed that she spoke in Amirul Mo'mineen's voice." He said: She raised her hand towards the people to silence them, so the breathing slowed and the noises were silenced. Then she said:

"All praise be to Allah; and His blessing on my father, the messenger of Allah. Know you O people of Kufa, O people of chicanery and betrayal. May your tears never dry, and may your wailing never quieten. Your example is of 'the one who unravels her yarn after it is firmly spun. You take your oaths merely to deceive one another.' (16:98). O people! Are there any among you except those suffering from vainglory, blemished by disgrace, and with bosoms full of hatred? Cowards when confronted, helpless before the enemies, violators of oath of allegiance, wasting the responsibilities? Miserable is what you have forwarded, that has incurred the wrath of Allah upon you. And you will be in chastisement forever.

So, you are crying? Yes, cry a lot, and laugh a little for you have earned its disgrace and its infamy; and you will never be able to wash off the filth stuck to you. You have forsaken and intrigued against the scion of the seal of the Prophet-hood, master of the youths of Paradise, refuge of your chosen ones, retreat for the calamities befalling you, landmark to your destination, the highway of your Proof. How evil is the burden you bear? Wretched be you and reversed be your plans! The effort has failed, and hands are full of nothing but dust, and the bargain has sustained a loss. You are laden with the wrath of Allah, and humiliation and abasement has been stamped upon you.

Woe unto you! Do you know which liver of Muhammad have you torn apart, and which blood have you spilled? And which nobility have you struck? 'Indeed you have come up with a thing abominable and shocking. From which, the heavens are about to be rent asunder, the earth split and the mountains fallen to pieces.' (19:89,90). What you have committed is foolishness and degradation enough to fill the heavens and the earth! Are you then surprised if the heavens rain blood? 'And the chastisement of the hereafter is even more degrading.' (41:16). So do not take these moments of respite lightly - for He is not prompted by haste nor is it feared that He will miss the reprised. No! 'Your Lord is ever observant.' (89:14)."

He said: Then she was silent. And I saw people bewildered, their hands on their mouths, and I saw an old man weeping till his beard was drenched and he said:

"Their elderly are the best among the elderly people
and their progeny, when any progeny is taken into account,
is never wrong, nor discredited."

The first elegy on Al-Husain

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad b. Imran al-Marzabani reported to me from Muhammad b. Ibrahim, who reported from Abdullah b. Abu Saeed al-Warraq, who reported from Masood ibn Amru al-Jahdari, who reported from Ibrahim b. Dahah, who said:
The first elegy recited for al-Husain b. Ali, peace be upon him, was by Aqabah b. Amru al-Sahmi, from the tribe of Banu Salim b. Awf Ibn Ghalib:
"(After the tragedy of Kerbala) when the eye was content
(having seen enough) in this life, and (when) you fear in this
world, as its light has turned into darkness.
I passed by the grave of al-Husain at Kerbala,
My tears rolled down copiously for him,
And I have since not stopped lamenting and weeping in sorrow,
my eyes are helped by its tears and the hearing by sigh.
And tears were shed, besides al-Husain, on the group
whose graves surround him on both sides,
Salaams on the interred ones at Kerbala,
Yet, my salaams visiting them are too little for them,
Salaams to them in the evening and during the day,
conveyed by the wind blowing on it and by the dust it carries
And the groups of people continues to visit his grave,
whose musk and aroma exudes fragrance to them."

Weeping over Al-Husain

He said: Abu Amru Uthman b. Ahmd al-Daqqaq permitted me to report what he reported from Ja'far b. Muhammad b. Malik, who reported from Ahmad b. Yahya al-Awadi, who reported from Mukhawwal Ibn Ibrahim, from al-Rabee' b. al-Munzir, from his father who reported from:

Al-Husain b. Ali, peace be upon him, that he said: "Whoever sheds a tear from his eyes for us, or fills his eyes with tears for us, Allah will grant him for that an eternal place in Paradise." Ahmed b. Yahya al-Awadi said: I saw al-Husain b. Ali, peace be upon him, in dream and related to him: "Mukhawwal b. Ibrahim has reported to me from al-Rabee' b. al-Munzir, from his father from you that you said: Whoever sheds a tear from his eyes for us, or fills his eyes with tears for us, Allah will grant him an eternal place in Paradise." He said: "Yes." So I said: "(In that case), the chain of narration between you and me does not exist any more."