History Books

Thinking about Karbala, one would inevitably remember the thirst of the fighters of Karbala. Such thirst has a history which starts from Hazrat Ibrahim’s (Prophet Abraham’s) story with Hajar and Ismail.

Sareh, Prophet Abraham’s wife, told him, “As I cannot give birth to a child, you should marry Hajar. Maybe she could give you a baby.”?

After a short while, God blessed the eighty-six-year old Abraham with a son. The history of thirst began with him.

On the command of God, Abraham started a journey with his wife, Hajar and his son, Ismail, and got to a barren desert.

“Lord! I have brought my family in a barren valley, next to your holy place, so that they would worship you.”?

Abraham went back to Palestine and left Hajar and Ismail in that mysterious desert, on the command of God.

Hajar was left with a small baby in a hot and rough desert.

“What do I do with this loneliness, Lord? How do I bear this heat and thirst?”?

Hajar could no more nurse his baby, and death was approaching him.

She left Ismail there to go and find water, but it was useless. She came back to her son. The child was impatient with thirst.

Hajar saw another mirage and left Ismail alone again. She kept going from Safa Mount to Marveh Mount and from Marveh to Safa… but there was no water there.

Suddenly, she saw water springing up next to Ismail. She could not believe her eyes.

Water sprang from beneath Ismail’s small feet. Hajjar was very happy. She drank and she nursed the child.

Birds came to the water, so did the people; and life began in the center of world…

This story marks the beginning of the history of thirst that continued later in Karbala.