Islam Guidance

The enemies of Allah waited for a short while then returned to Hussein (A.S) whom they surrounded as he sat on the ground unable to stand. Abdullah son of Imam Hassan (A.S), grandson of the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P), who was then eleven years old, looked and saw how his uncle was being surrounded by those people, so he came running towards him. Zaynab wanted to restrain him but he managed to evade her and to reach his uncle.
Bahr ibn Kaab lowered his head to strike Hussein (A.S), so the child shouted, “O son of the corrupt woman, are you going to strike my uncle?” The man dealt a blow from his sword which the child received with his hand, cutting it off. The child cried in agony, “O uncle!” Then he fell in the lap of Hussein (A.S) who hugged him and said: “O son of my brother! Be patient with regard to what has befallen us, and consider it as goodness, for Allah, the most Exalted, will make you join your righteous ancestors.” Then He (A.S) raised his hands and supplicated saying, “O Allah! Let them enjoy themselves for some time then divide them and make them into parties, and do not let their rulers ever be pleased with them, for they invited us to support us, then they turned their backs to us and fought us.”
Harmalah ibn Kahil shot the child with an arrow, killing him as he sat in his uncle's lap.
Hussein (A.S) remained lying on the ground for some time. Had those rogues wished to kill him, they could have done so, but each tribe relied on the other to do what it hated to do itself.
Al-Shimr shouted, “What are you standing like that for?! What do you expect the man to do since your arrows and spears have wounded him so heavily? Attack him!”
Zarah ibn Sharik struck him on his left shoulder with his sword while Hussein (A.S) shot him with an arrow which penetrated his mouth; another man struck him on the shoulder. Sinan ibn Anas stabbed him in his collar bone area of the chest then shot him with an arrow in the neck. Salih ibn Wahab stabbed him in the side.
Hilal ibn Nafi has said, “I was standing in front of Hussein (A.S) as he was drawing his last breath. Never did I ever see anyone whose face looked better than him or more glowing as he was stained with his own blood!
In fact, the light emanating from his face distracted me altogether from the thought of killing him! As he was in such a condition, he asked for some water to drink, but they refused to give him any.”
A man said to him, “You shall not taste of water till you reach hell from whose hot boiling water shall you drink.” He (A.S) said, “Am I the one who will reach it? Rather, I will reach my grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, and will reside with him in his abode of truth near an Omnipotent King, and I shall complain to him about what crimes you committed against me and what you have done to me.” They all became very angry. It is as if Allah did not leave one iota of compassion in their hearts.

Adapted from: "Maqtal al-Hussein; Martyrdom Epic of Imam Hussein (A.S)" by: "Abd al-Razzaq al-Muqarram"

"One night they rested in the mountain top of a hermitage of a monk who had devoted his life to prayers and meditation. Shimr gave the heads of the martyrs to him for safe keeping. Just one look at the face of Imam Hussain (A.S) convinced the hermit that it was the head of a saint. He took it with him and kept it near his bed and then retired to sleep.
At night he dreamt that all the Prophets and angels had descended from heaven to keep watch over the head. He woke up from his sleep startled and baffled as to what he should do. He decided to ask the leader of the guards about the identity of the people whom they had beheaded and whose family they had taken as prisoners.
Rushing out of the monastery he woke up Shimr and demanded to know who the martyrs were. When Shimr told him that, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H&H.P) who had defied the authority of the ruler Yazid ibn Muawiya and refused to acknowledge his spiritual superiority had been killed by the army of Yazid and they were carrying the heads of all the people who had been killed in Karbala, the hermit was shocked beyond words.
Recovering himself he said “You cursed people! Do you realize that you have committed the most heinous crime by beheading your own Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P)’s grandson who undoubtedly was a great saint! Fie upon you coward that not satisfied with what you have done that you are so brutally treating his innocent ladies and children and subjecting them to such atrocities!”
He asked to kiss the head but they refused till he paid them some money. He declared the testimony of faith and embraced Islam through the blessing of the one who was just beheaded for supporting the divine call.
These words of the hermit enraged Shimr who had even otherwise lost his temper with him for waking him up from sleep in the dead of night. With one sweep of his sword he chopped off the hermits head. This brute had little regard for the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P)’s injunctions and orders granting the fullest protection to those who had retired from the world and dedicated their lives to prayers and penance.
When the life of the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P)’s own grandson was not spared by this brute what regard could he be expected to have for the commands of the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P)?
When they left that place they looked at the money the monk had given them and saw this verse inscribed on it “And those who oppressed shall come to find how evil their end shall be.”

Taken from: Imam Hussain holy shrine international media

His horse came circling around him, rubbing his head on his blood. It was then that Ibn Saad shouted, “The horse! Get the horse, for it is one of the horses of the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H&H.P)! ”Horsemen surrounded that horse which kept kicking with its front legs, killing forty riders and ten horses. Ibn Saad then said, “Leave him and let us see what he does. “Once he felt secure, the horse went back to Hussain (A.S) to rub his head on the Imam's blood as he sniffed him. He was neighing very loudly. Imam Baqir (A.S) used to say that that horse was repeating these words: “Retribution! Retribution against a nation that killed the son of its Prophet's daughter!” The horse then went to the camp neighing likewise. When the women saw the horse without its rider and its saddle twisted, they went out, their hair spread out, beating their cheeks, their faces uncovered, screaming and wailing, feeling the humiliation after enjoying prestige, going in the direction of the place where Hussain (A.S) had been killed.
Umme Kulthum, namely Zainab the wise, cried out, “O Muhammad! O father! O Ali! O Jafar! O Hamzah! Here is Hussain in the open slain in Karbala!” Then Zainab said, “I wish the heavens had fallen upon the earth! I wish the mountains had crushed the valley!” She was near Hussain (A.S) when Umer ibn Saad came close to her, flanked by some of his men. Hussain (A.S) was drawing his last breath. She cried out, “O Umar! Should Abu Abdullah be killed as you look on?!” He turned his face away. His tears were flooding his beard. She said, “Woe unto you! Is there any Muslim man among you?” None answered her. Then [Umar] Ibn Saad shouted at people, “Alight and put him to rest!” Al-Shimr was the first to do so. He kicked the Imam (A.S) with his foot then sat on his chest and took hold of his holy beard. He dealt him twelve sword strokes. He then severed his sacred head...

Source: Maqtal al-Hussain - Martyrdom Epic of Imam Hussain (A.S)
By: Abd al Razzaq al-Muqarram

Abbas (A.S) could no longer bear life after having seen how his companions and the members of his family killed and how the Hujjah of his time was suffering from the great number of the enemies surrounding him after his supply route had been cut off and after hearing the women wailing and the children crying of thirst. He, therefore, sought permission from his brother. Since Abbas (A.S) was the most precious asset to the grandson of the Prophet (P.B.U.H&H.P), who is soon to be martyred, especially since the foes always dreaded having to fight him and feared his advance, and how the ladies felt a sense of security upon seeing the standard raised high, the sacred soul of the Father of the Oppressed did not accept to part with him. The Imam (A.S) said to him, “O brother! You are my standard-bearer!” Abbas (A.S) said, “I am fed-up with these hypocrites, and I want to seek revenge against them.” Hussain (A.S) ordered him to bring water for the children, so Abbas went to those people and admonished them, warning them of the Wrath of the Omnipotent, but all of that fell on deaf ears.
He then shouted: “O Umar ibn Sa'ad! Here is Hussain son of the daughter of the Messenger of Allah! You have killed his companions and family, and here are his children suffering from thirst! Give them some water, for thirst has burnt their hearts!” As he kept repeating his pleas, he also kept saying to them, “Let me go to Rome or to India, and I shall leave Hijaz and Iraq for you all.” There were some people among the enemy ranks who were genuinely moved by those pleas, so they wept, but Shimr shouted as loudly as he could, “O son of Abu Turab! Had the face of earth been entirely covered with water, and had it been in our hands, we would still have not given you a drop of it to drink unless you swear the oath of allegiance to Yazid!”
Abbas went back to his brother to tell him of the outcome of his negotiations with those ruffians. Abbas heard the children crying of thirst, so he could not tolerate the situation any longer. He was fired up with his Hashemite zeal.
Then he rode his horse and took the water bag. As many as four thousand archers soon surrounded him and shot him with their arrows, yet their large number did not impede his attempt. He kept chasing those throngs alone as his standard kept fluttering above. Those people could not tell whether that was Abbas who was thus slaughtering their heroes. Their men could not maintain their grounds before him, and he succeeded in getting into the Euphrates River heedless of the huge crowd around him.
The moment he took one handful of water to drink he remembered how thirsty Hussain (A.S) and those with him were, so he spilled it then said:
O soul! After Hussain nobody does count!
After him, you should to nothing amount,
Here is Hussain nearing his end
While you drink of cool water?!
By Allah! Such is not a deed
At all enjoined by my creed!

Then he filled the water bag, rode his horse, and went in the direction of the camp. His path was blocked, so he kept killing those who blocked it till he was able to make his way through them as he was saying:
I do not fear dead when it calls upon me,
Till among the swords you bury me.
My soul protects the one
Who is the Prophet's grandson?
Abbas am I, the water bag do I bear
When I meet evil, I know no fear!

Zayd ibn Arqam ambushed him from behind a palm tree assisted by Ibn Tufail, dealing a sword blow to his right arm, completely severing it. He (A.S), said:
By Allah! If you cut off my right hand,
I shall not cease defending my creed,
And an Imam true to his conviction do I defend,
A son of the trustworthy Prophet whom Allah did send.

He did not pay attention to the fact that his right hand had been cut off because he was only concerned about getting the water to the children and the family of Hussain (A.S), but Ibn Tufail was still hiding another palm tree when he passed by. Hakim struck him with his sword on his left hand, amputating it, too, and soon a large number of men were surrounding him. Arrows fell on him like rain, piercing the water bag and boring a hole in it through which its water was completely spilled. An arrow pierced his chest. A man hit him with a pole on his head, severely injuring him.
He fell on the ground shouting, “Peace unto you from me, O father of Abdullah!” Hussain (A.S) rushed to him.
How I wish to know in what condition he went to him, with a soul imperiled by this great loss, or by the brotherhood that pulls a brother to his beloved brother....
Yes; Hussain (A.S) reached him and witnessed how sacrifice is being offered to the Holy One on a plain covered with blood and crowned with arrows. Abbas had no might nor speech nor anything whereby he could keep his foes away. He could not even see anything; his head was on the ground bleeding.
Is it accurate to say that Hussain (A.S) saw all of these calamities and still had any strength whereby he could stand on his feet? Only Hussain remained after the martyrdom of Abbas. He remained a figure staring in the sky, stripped of all the necessities of life. He (A.S) described his condition best when he said, “Now my spine has been split and my endeavor is further weakened.”
He left him where he had fell and did not move him anywhere due to a hidden reason which time later unveiled:
He was to be buried where he had fallen separately from the other martyrs so that he would have a mausoleum of his own visited by those who seek his intercession with the Almighty to grant them the fulfillment of their wishes, and so that his grave-site would be a place for the people who seek nearness to the Almighty, Praise to Him, under its dome that stands lofty in the sky, glowing. It is there that dazzling miracles manifest themselves and the nation thereby comes to know his lofty status and station with Allah Almighty. It then carries out its obligation of loving him which is renewed by continuous visits. Greeting him will establish a link between them and Allah, the most Exalted.
Hussain (A.S) went back to the camp feeling extremely depressed, tearful. He kept wiping his tears with his cuffs as men raced with one another to assault his camp. He called out: “Is there anyone who helps us?! Is there anyone who grants us security?! Is there anyone who seeks justice, so he supports us?! Is there anyone who fears the Fire, so he defends us?!” Roghayya, his daughter, came to him and asked him about her uncle Abbas.
He told her of his being killed. Zainab heard him revealing this sad news, so she cried out, “O brother! O Abbas! O our loss after you!” Women wept, and Hussain (A.S) wept, too, and said, “O our loss after you!”

Maqtal al-Hussain- Martyrdom Epic of Imam al-Hussain (A.S)
By: Abd al-Razzaq al-Muqarram