Imam Husain (as) sets out on his Journey
Al Husain, the blessings of God be on him, set out from Mecca to Iraq on the day of
Muslim's (attempted) rising in Kufa, that is the day of Tarwiya, after staying in Mecca
for the rest of Shaban, the month of Ramadhan, Shawwal and Dhu al Qada and eight days of
Dhu- al-Hijja in the year 60 A.H. (680).
During his stay in Mecca, peace be on him, a number of Hijazis and Basrans had gathered
around him, joining themselves to his household and his retainers (mawali).
When he determined on journeying to Iraq, he made the Tawaf of the (sacred) House and
the ritual running between al-Safa and al-Marwa. Then he left the state of consecration
(for the pilgrimage) (after) he had performed the lesser pilgrimage (Umra) because he was
not able to perform the greater pilgrimage (hajj). Through fear of being apprehended in
Mecca, and being taken to Yazid b. Muawiya, he, peace be on him, had set out early with
his House, his sons and those of his Shia who had joined him.
[As it has been reported to us:] News of Muslim's (capture and death) had not yet
reached him because (it had only happened) on the day he set out.
[It is reported that al-Farazdaq, the poet, said:]
I made the pilgrimage with my mother in the year 60 A.H. (680). I was driving her camel
when I entered the sanctuary. (There) I met al- Husain b. Ali, peace be on them, leaving
Mecca accompanied by (some men carrying) swords and shields. "Whose caravan is
this?" I asked.
"Al-Husain b. Ali's, peace be on them," was the reply. So I went up and
greeted him. "May God grant you your request and (fulfil) your hope in what you want,
by my father and mother, son of the Apostle of God," I said to him. "But what is
making you hurry away from the pilgrimage?"
"If I did not hurry away, I would be apprehended," he replied. Then he asked
me: "Who are you?" "An Arab," I answered and he did not question me
(about myself) any further."
"Tell me about the people you have left behind you," he asked. "You have
asked a good (question)," I answered. "The hearts of the people are with you but
their swords are against you. The decision comes from Heaven and God does what he
wishes."
"You have spoken truly of the affair belonging to God," he replied.
"Every day He (is involved) in (every) matter" (LV, 29) If fate sends down what
we like and are pleased with, we praise God for His blessings. He is the One from Whom
help should be sought in order to give thanks to Him. However, although fate may frustrate
(our) hopes, yet He does not destroy (the souls of) those whose intention is the truth and
whose hearts are pious."
"True, God brings you what you wish for (ultimately) and guards you against what
you are threatened by," I said. Then I asked him about matters concerning vows and
pilgrimage rites. He told me about them and then moved his mount off, saying farewell, and
so we parted. When al-Husain b. Ali, peace be on them, left Mecca, Yahya b. Said b. al-'As
met him with a group (of men). They had been sent to him by 'Amr b. Said.
"Come back from where you are going," they ordered. But he refused (to obey)
them and continued. The two groups came to blows and hit at each other with whips. However
al-Husain and his followers resisted fiercely. Al-Husain continued until he got to al-
Tanim. There he met a camel-train which had come from Yemen. He hired from its people
(additional) camels for himself and his followers to ride.
Then he said to the owners (of the camels): "Whoever (of you) wants to come with
us to Iraq, we will pay his hire and enjoy his company and whoever wants to leave some way
along the road we will pay his hire for the distance he has travelled."
Some of the people went with him but others refused. Abd Allah b. Jafar sent his sons,
Awn and Muhammad, after him, and he wrote a letter to him which he gave to them. In it, he
said: I ask you before God (to return) if you have set out when you see my letter. For I
am very concerned because the direction in which you are heading will have within it your
destruction, and the extirpation of your House. If you are destroyed today, the light of
the land will be extinguished; for you are the (standard) of those who are rightly-guided
and the hope of the believers. Do not hurry on your journey as I am following this letter.
Greetings.
Abd Allah, then went to 'Amr b. Sad and asked him to write to al-Husain (offering him)
a guarantee of security, and (promising) to favour him, so that he would return from where
he was going. Amr b. Said wrote a letter in which he offered him favour and a guarantee of
security for himself. He dispatched it with his brother Yahya b. Said. Yahya b. Said went
after him (as did) Abd Allah after dispatching his sons. The two handed ('Amr's) letter to
him and strove (to persuade) him to return.
"I have seen the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, in my
sleep," answered (al-Husain), "and he ordered me (to do) what I am carrying
out." "What was that vision?" they both asked. "I have not told anyone
of it," he answered, "and I am not going to tell anyone until I meet my Lord,
the Mighty and Exalted."
When 'Abd Allah b. Ja'far despaired of (persuading) him, he told his sons, Awn and
Muhammad, to stay with him, to go with him and to struggle on behalf of him. He returned
with Yahya b. Sa'id to Mecca. Al Husain, peace be on him, pressed on swiftly and directly
towards Iraq until he reached Dhat' Irq.
When Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad had learnt of the journey of al- Husain, peace be on him,
from Mecca to Kufa, he had sent al- Husain b. Numayr, the commander of the bodyguard
(shurta), to station himself at al-Qadisiyya and to set up a (protective) link of cavalry
between the area of al-Qadisiyya to Khaffan and the area of al-Qadisiyya to
al-Qutqutaniyya. He informed the men that al- Husain was heading for Iraq.
When al-Husain, peace be on him, reached al-Hajiz (a hill above) Batn al-Rumma, he sent
Qays b. Mushir al Saydawi - some say it was his brother-in-nurture, Abd Allah b. Yuqtur to
Kufa. For he, peace be upon him, had not yet learnt the news of (the fate of) Ibn 'Aqil.
He sent a letter with him:
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
From al-Husain b. Ali to his brother believers and Muslims,
Greetings to you, I praise God before you, other than Whom there is no deity.
Muslim b. Aqil's letter came to me, informing me of your sound judgement and the agreement
of your leaders to support us, and to seek our rights. I have asked God to make your
actions good and reward you with the greatest reward. I set out to you from Mecca on 8th
of Dhu al-Hijja, the Day of Tarwiya. When my messenger reaches you, be urgent and
purposeful in your affairs, for I am coming to you within the next few days.
Greeting and the mercy and blessings of Allah
Muslim had written to al-Husain seventeen days before he was killed and the Kufans had
written to him: "Here you have a hundred thousand swords. Do not delay." Qays b.
Mushir went towards Kufa with the letter. However, when he reached al-Qadisiyya, al-Husain
b. Numayr apprehended him and sent him to Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad.
"Go up on the pulpit," Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad ordered him, "and curse the
liar, al-Husain b. Ali, peace be on him" Qays went up on the pulpit and praised and
glorified God. Then he said: People, this man, al-Husain b. 'Ali the best of God's
creatures, the son of Fatima, the daughter of the Apostle, may God bless him and his
family and grant them peace, (is nearby). I am his messenger to you. Answer him.
Then he cursed Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad and his father and prayed for forgiveness for Ali
b. Abi Talib and blessed him. 'Ubayd Allah ordered him to be thrown from the top of the
palace. They threw him and he was smashed to pieces.
[It is (also) reported:] He fell on the ground in chains and his bones were crushed and
there only remained to him his last breath. A man called 'Abd al- Malik b. 'Umayr
al-Lakhmi came to him and cut his throat. When he was told that that had been a shameful
(thing to do) and he was blamed for it, he said: "I wanted to relieve him (of his
suffering)."