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Lesson 55: The Self-Sacrificing Lovers

Tradition

إنَّ أَصْحَابَ جَدِّىَ الْحُسَيْنِ لَمْ يَجِدُوا أَلَمَ مَسِّ الْحَدِيْدِ

Imam al-Baqir (‘a) is narrated to have said: “The self-sacrificing companions of my grandfather Imam al-Husayn (‘a) did not feel any pain under the striking of the swords and the piercing of the spears of the enemy.”1

Brief Commentary

When an individual begins to love something intensely, all of his senses will be focused on the object of his love. It is for this reason that any difficulty that he faces will be considered as nothing at all; in reality, he will not even feel any of these difficulties while he is in that state. When the women of Egypt saw Prophet Joseph (‘a), they all cut their hands under the effect of this attraction and love. They were so taken in that they could not even feel themselves cutting deep into their hands, while this is something that should have caused them immense pain under normal conditions. This shows us that those who are taken in by the love of God will not feel the immense pain of any sacrifice that they undertake in his way.

  • 1. Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 45, p. 80.