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Lady Zaynab's First Address

Lady Zaynab's First Address

As she saw the crowds blocking all streets of Kufa an surrounding the caravan. Lady Zaynab decided to deliver a speech aiming at uniting the public opinion, referring to the grand misfortune that the Umayyad gang brought to the Islamic ummah by killing the actual leader, Imam al-Husayn (AS), and charging people of Kufa with that crime, because it wasthey who breached their promises of supporting the Imam (AS) and protecting him. Nevertheless, they as if it ot they who caused that massacre, nourned for the Imam (AS) and wept for the captivity of his harem and children.

Lady Zaynab asdked everybody to keep silent, and then she, calm, composed, and courageous, said:

الحمد لله , والصلاة علي أبي , محمد و آله الطيبين الأخيار. أما بعد يا أهل الكوفة, يا أهل الختل و الغدر, أتبكون؟ فلا رقات الدمعه ولا هدأت الرنة. إنما مثلكم كمثل التي نقضت غزلها من بعد قوة أنكاثا, تتخذون أيمانكم دخلا بينكم. ألاو هل فيكم إلا الصلف والنطف, و الصدر الشنف, و ملق الإماء و غمز الأعداء؟ أو كمرعي علي دمنة, أو كقصة علي ملحودة, ألا ساء ما قدمت لكم أنفسكم أن سخط الله عليكم و في العذاب أنتم خالدون.

All praise is due to Allah. Blessing be upon my father Muhammad (s) and upon his good and righteous progeny (AS). Well now, O people of Kufa; people of deception and perfidy! Do you weep? May your tears never cease, and may the resounding of this calamity never stop. Your similitude is she who unravels her yarn, disintegrating it into pieces after she has spun it strongly, you make your oaths to be means of deceit between you.

Is there anyone among you who is not a boaster of what he does not have, a charger of debauchery, a conceited liar, a man of grudge without any justification, submissive like bondmaids, of feeble before the enemies, just like a pasture in relics or like a dirty piece of cloth on a grave? Truly bad is that which your souls have committed. You have reaped theWrath of Allah, remaining in the chastisement for eternity.

أتبكون و نتحبون؟ إي والله! فابكوا كثيرا واضحكوا قليلا, فلقد ذهبتم بعارها و شنانها (و شنارها). و لن ترحضوها بغسل بعدها أبدا. و أني ترحضون قتل سليل خاتم الأنبياء, و معدن الرسالة , و سيد شباب أهل الجنة, و ملاذ خيرتكم , و مفزع نازلتكم , و منار حجتكم, و مدرة سنتكم؟ ألا ساء ماتزرون , و بعدا لكم و سحقا, فلقد خاب السعي و تبت الأيدي , ز خسرت الصفقة, و بؤتم بعضب من الله و رسوله, و ضربت عليكم الذله و المسكنة.

Do You really cry and sob? By Allah, you should then cry a great deal and laugh very little, for you have earned nothing but shame and infamy, and you shall never be able to wash it away, How could you do so? The descendant of the bearer of the Last Message, the very essence of the Message,master of the youths of Paradise, the refuge of the righteous from among you, the one who saves you from calamity, the beacon of your guidance, and the keeper of your traditions has been killed. O how horrible is the sin that you bear!

May you be distanced and crushed. The effort is rendered futile, perdition overtakes the hands, the deal is lost, and you earned nothing but wrath from Allah and His Messenger. You are doomed with servitude and humiliation.

ويلكم يا أهل الكوفة! أتدرون أي كبد لرسول الله فريتم؟ و أي كريمة له أبرزتم؟ وأي دم له سفكتم؟ و أي حرمة له انتهكتم؟ لقد جئتم شيئا إدا تكادالسماوات يتفطرن منه و تنشق الأرض و تخر الجبال هدا. بها صلعاء عنقاء سوداء فقماء (خرفاء شوهاء كطلاع الأرض و ملاء السماء). أفعجبتم أن مطرت السماء دما؟ و لعذاب الآخرة أخزي و أنتم لا تنصرون. فلا يستخنكم المهل, فإنه لايحفزه البدار و لا يخاف فوت الثار, و إن ربكم لبالمرصاد.

Woe unto you, O people of Kufa! Do you know whose heart you have burned, what a feat you have labored, what blood you have, and what sanctity you have violated? you have done a most monstrous deed, something for which the heavens are about to split asunder and so is the earth, and for which the mountains crumble.

You have done something most uncanny, most defaced, duskiest, most horrible, as much as the fill of the earth and of the sky. Do you wonder why the sky rains blood? Surely, the torment of the Hereafter is a greater chastisement, and you shall not be helped. Let no respite elate you, for rushing does not speed it up, nor does it fear the loss of the opportunity for revenge. you Lord is waiting in ambush to do so.

Because he recognized that the situation could no longer stand the words of his aunt, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin interrupted her speech, saying, "That is enough, aunt, Thanks to Allah, you are a learned lady whom none taught and you can comprehend without being made to do so."

Echo Of The Speech

Lady Zaynab's eloquent speech, which is compared to Imam 'Ali's speeches, rebuked people of Kufa so effectively, exposed their false faith in Islam, falsified their deceitful tears, and introduced them as the most ignoble criminals as they contributed strongly in the murder of killing Imam al-Husayn (AS), his household, and his companions.

With the utterance of justice and honesty and the voice of courage and right, Lady Zaynab hit people of Kufa and pointed to their lowliness and rotten-heartedness. Their forgery and falsehood could not deceive her as she reproached them for their crimes and ascribed to them the meanest characters. Moreover , she commented on their weeping by saying that they should have wept for the big crime of disappointing the Imam and letting him down.

Furthermore, this speech made them amazed and perplexed. They put their hands on theirs mouths without knowing what to do. An old man, for instance, approached her with teary eyes, saying, "my father and mother be sacrificed for you. Your men are the best men, your youths are the best youths, your women are the best women, and your progeny will never die away or become low."(1)

Then, Lady Fatima, Daughter of Imam al-Husayn (AS), delivered an eloquent speech similar to her aunt's. Because her words were so strong and had bearings on them, people of Kufa begged her to stop. She responded, but people could not stop their wailings and weeping.

Then, Lady Ummu-Kulthum spoke similar words that touched people so deeply that women began to slap their faced and men to weep incessantly.

Then, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin spoke. He proved they were not true Muslims and that they had a share in the crime of killing the Imam (AS). They therefore said to each other, "We have certainly perished." They then asked him to stop, and he did as their cries and wailing rose.
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1- See Wafiyyat al-A'immah, 453.
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