Prophecy of the Martyrdom of Imam Husayn (‘a) in the Musnad of Ibn Hanbal

Ibn Hanbal says:

Muhammad bin ‘Ubayd has related to us from Sharhab?l bin Madrak from ‘Abdull?h bin Nujayy from his father who narrates that he was marching with (Imam) ‘Al? [(‘a)] towards Siff?n and when we reached Ninevah, (Imam) ‘Al? [(‘a)] cried in a loud voice:

“O Ab? ‘Abdill?h! Be patient. O Ab? ‘Abdill?h! Be patient beside the River Euphrates.”

I asked him:

For what?

He said:

“Once when I went to the Prophet I saw tears in his eyes and asked him:

O Messenger of Allah (S) who has made you upset? Why are your eyes moist with tears?

He said:

Bal q?ma min ‘ind? Jibra’?lu qabl, fahaddathan? anna al-Husayn yuqtulu bishatt al-Fur?t. Q?la: Hal laka an ushimaka min turbatih? Q?la: Qultu: Na‘am. Famadda yadahu faqabaza qabzatan min tur?bin fa a‘t?n?h?. falam amliku ‘ayn? an f?zat? (A while ago [the Archangel] Gabriel left. He has informed me that indeed Husayn will be killed beside the River Euphrates.

Then he [the Prophet] said:

Do you like to smell part of his soil [where Imam Husayn (‘a) will be killed].

I said:

Yes.

He stretched his hand and taking a fistful of soil gave it to me. As a result, tears started rolling down uncontrollably from my eyes.)”[1]

The annotator of the Musnad regards the isn?d of this hadith as sah?h and writes that Nujayy is not the only one to narrate this from Imam ‘Al? (‘a).

Notes:

[1] Ibn Hunbal's Musnad, hadith no. 6480 (Ahmad Sh?kir).