Chapter 88: Excellence Of Karbala And Ziyarah Of Imam Al-Husayn ('A)
Imam As-Sajjad ('a) said to me (the narrator), “O Zaidah! have been informed that you perform the Ziyarah of the grave of Imam Al-Husayn ('a) from time to time?” I replied, “It is true.”
Imam ('a) asked, “Why do you do this despite being esteemed by your governor who does not tolerate anyone who loves us, gives preference to us above others, mentions our excellence, or fulfils any of his obligations towards us?”
I replied: By Allah, I don't do it for the sake of anyone but Allah and His messenger. I do not care about anyone's wrath who might be wrathful of this. And there is no affliction that could befall me in Ziyarah, which is unbearable in my view.
Imam ('a) asked, “I ask you by Allah, is this true?” I replied, “By Allah, this is true.”
Imam ('a) asked the same question thrice and repeated my answer thrice.
Then Imam ('a) said, “Glad tidings to you, glad tidings to you and glad tidings to you, for indeed, I am going to narrate a tradition to you which is among the most distinguished of traditions that are kept safe with me.”
Indeed, after the tragedies which befell us in Taff, in which my father [Imam Al-Husayn ('a)] and those with him from his children, brothers and the rest of his family members were killed, his ladies and children were about to be taken to Kufa on saddle-less camels.
(While we were leaving Karbala) I looked at their unburied bodies. It was extremely difficult for me to see them and I became agitated seeing them in that state and my soul almost left my body.
When my aunt, Zainab Kubra, daughter of Ali, saw me in that state and asked me, “O remainder of my grandfather, my father and my brothers! Why do I see you struggling in death?”
I replied: How can I not be restless and stay patient when I see that my master, my brothers, my uncles, my cousins and the rest of my family members have been killed and are covered with their blood and with dust? They have been looted, left on the dust without shrouds and their bodies have not been buried. No one looks at them and no human comes near them as if they are a family from Dailam or Khazar.
My aunt said: Do not allow that which you see to make you restless, for by Allah, Allah's Messenger confided to your grandfather, you father and your uncle that Allah has taken the covenant from some people from among this Ummah, who are unknown to the Fir’awns of this Ummah but are well-known in the heavens, who will collect these separated limbs and bodies smeared with blood and bury them.
They will install a sign here to the grave of your father, the Chief of the Martyrs. And as time passes, its signs will never vanish and its traces will never be erased by the passage of time.
Many leaders of disbelief and followers of deviation will strive to eradicate and destroy it, but it will continue to be more elevated and apparent.
I asked, “What is the covenant and what is this incident?”
She replied: Umm Aiman narrated to me that:
One day, Allah's Messenger arrived at the house of Fatimah, who cooked some Harirah for him and Ali ('a) brought him a dish of dates and I took a bowl of milk and another filled with cream to them. Allah's Messenger, Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn ('a) ate that Hari rah and drank the milk. Then they ate from the dates and the cream.
Then Allah's Messenger washed his hands while Ali ('a) poured water over his hands, after which he wiped his hands over his face and then looked at Ali, Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn ('a) in a way that happiness was apparent on his face.
Allah's Messenger then turned his face to the heavens for a long time, after which he turned to Qibla, raised his hands and began praying. He then fell into prostration and began to weep for a long time. Then he raised his voice with lamentation and began to shed tears.
After sometime he raised his head. He looked at the ground and he was shedding tears like rain.
Fatimah, Ali, Hasan and Husayn ('a) and I were aggrieved to see Allah's Messenger in this state and we did not dare ask him the reason.
But after a long time, Ali and Fatimah asked, “O Allah's Messenger! What makes you cry? May Allah never make you cry! Our hearts are pained to see you in this state.”
My brother! Today, I was delighted for your sake in a way I had never been delighted before. And as I was looking at you and praising Allah for blessing me with you, Jibra’il came down to me and said:
O Muhammad! Allah the exalted, is aware of that which you feel and He knows how pleased you are looking at your brother, daughter and two grandsons. Thus, He has completed His blessing on you and has willed to satisfy you with His bounties by placing them, their progenies, their lovers and their Shia with you in Paradise.
They will not be separated from you. They will be favoured as you will be and they will be blessed like you will be until you are satisfied and even beyond your satisfaction.
But in return they will be afflicted with many tragedies in this life. They will be hurt by some people who will ascribe themselves to your religion and claim to be from your Ummah but are dissociated from Allah and you.
They will be struck and killed in the harshest ways and their places of martyrdom and their graves will be far from one another.
This is the choice of Allah for them and (also) for you with regards to them, so praise Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, for His choice and accept His will.
So I praised Allah and accepted His will regarding that which He chose for you.
Then Jibra’il said: O Muhammad! Indeed, your brother will be oppressed after you, he will be overpowered by your Ummah and he will suffer from you enemies. Then he will be killed by the most evil and the most wretched created being, the counterpart of the killer of Prophet Salih's she camel.
He (Ali) will be slain in a city to which he will migrate, a city, which will become the centre of his Shia and the Shia of his children in which they will continuously be afflicted with many great tragedies.
Indeed, this grandson of yours - and he pointed to Imam Al-Husayn ('a) - along with a group of your progeny, your family members and the best ones from among your Ummah will be killed by the banks of Euphrates in a land called Karbala; the land which will cause many agonies (KARB) and afflictions (BALA) on your enemies and the enemies of your progeny on the day when agonies are endless and regrets are everlasting.
Karbala, where your grandson and his family will be slain, is the most blessed and sacred land on earth and it is a valley of Paradise.
On the day when the cursed cavalries of disbelievers surround and slay your grandson and his family, there will be earthquakes everywhere on earth; the mountains will start shaking, waves in oceans will collide and the heavens and their inhabitants will become agitated. O Muhammad! All this will be a result of their anger for your sake and the sake of your progeny, because how difficult it will be for them to see the way in which your sanctity will be violated and because of how terribly you will be recompensed by the people with regards to your progeny and offspring.
Then nothing from the above-mentioned creation will remain without asking Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, for permission to support your oppressed and overpowered family who are Allah's Proofs on the creation after you.
Hence Allah will reveal to the heavens, the earth, the mountains the oceans and everyone in them:
I am Allah, the Powerful King, from whom no party can escape. And none of the created beings can prevent My power from being applied to them. I am the most powerful to avenge him and to achieve victory for him.
I swear by My Glory and Magnificence, I will torment those who oppressed My Messenger and Chosen One, violated his sanctity, slain his progeny, abandoned his orders and oppressed his family with that with which I will torment anyone else in the worlds.
Then everything in the heavens and the earth will roar, cursing those who oppressed your progeny and violated your sanctity.
And when that group [Imam Al-Husayn ('a) his companions] will arrive at its place of martyrdom, the Almighty Allah, Himself will take their souls and angels from the Seventh Heaven will descend to earth with:
(1) Containers made of rubies and emeralds filled with Water of Life
(2) Garments from Paradise and
(3) Perfumes of Paradise.
They will wash their bodies with that water, clothe them with those garments and anoint them with those perfumes. Then the angels will stand in lines and pray on them.
Allah will then delegate some people from among your Ummah whom the disbelievers don't know and who did not participate in shedding their blood with their intentions, tongues or actions. They will bury their bodies and place a sign on the grave of the Chief of the Martyrs in that land. That sign will become the indication for those who follow the truth and means to achieve victory for believers.
Then a hundred thousand angels from every sky will descend and surround him (his grave) every day and every night. They will invoke blessings on him, circulate his grave, sanctify Allah near his grave and seek forgiveness for those who come to his Ziyarah and record the names of those from among your Ummah who seek nearness to the Almighty Allah and to you, by going to his Ziyarah. They will also record the names of their ancestors, tribes and homelands.
Then these angels will mark the faces of the visitor using a marker made of the light of Allah's Throne which reads, “This is the Visitor of the grave of the best of the martyrs and son of the best of the prophets.”
Hence on Judgment Day, the light which is from this marking will radiate from their faces in such a way that it will blur everyone's vision and the visitors will be identified by this light.
(Jibra’il then continued:) O Muhammad! It is as if I can see you standing between Mikaeel and I, while Ali ('a) will be before us. There will be a countless number of angels with us and we will be picking those who have this marking on their faces, so that Allah saves them from terrors and difficulties of that Day.
O Muhammad! Indeed, this is the ruling of Allah and His gift for those who perform the Ziyarah of your grave, the grave of your brother, or the graves of your two grandsons, seeking nothing but the pleasure of Allah, the Mighty and Sublime.
There will be some people on whom the wrath and the curse of Allah has fallen who will strive to eradicate the signs and traces of this grave, but Allah, the Powerful, will not allow it.
Allah's Messenger added, “This is the cause of my grief and crying.”
Zainab (‘a) continued: When Ibn Muljim (l.a.) struck my father, I noticed the signs of death on him as a result of it.
I said to him, “Father, Umm Aiman narrated the tradition (of Husayn's martyrdom) to me, and I would like to hear it from you.”
My father replied: My daughter! The tradition is as Umm Aiman narrated it to you. It is as if I can see you and ladies of your family as captives in this city. You will be humiliated, and you will be in fear of being abducted by the people. So have patience!! Patience!!
I swear by He that split the grain and created the creation, on that day there will be no friends of Allah on earth other than you, your lovers and your Shia.
And when Allah's Messenger narrated this tradition to us, he said:
Iblis (l.a.) will fly around the earth on that day joyfully, along, with his devils and demons. And call out to them: O devils! We have truly achieved our goal with the children of Adam. We have attained our target in their destruction and we have caused them all to inherit Hell, except those who stay committed to this group referring to Imam Al-Husayn ('a) and his companions.
So focus your efforts in creating doubts among the people about them [the Ahl Al-Bayt ('a)) and in inciting animosity towards them. Lure the people away from them and their followers so that you can strengthen deviation and disbelief of the people and so that no one survives.
Amir Al-Mu’minin ('a) added: Iblis, who is a liar, said the truth to them (on this occasion) that no good deed can benefit one who antagonizes you and that aside from major sins, no bad deed will harm one that loves and follows you.
Zaidah (the narrator) added, after Imam Ali Ibn Husayn ('a) narrated the above tradition to me, he added:
“Take this tradition and protect it. Indeed, even if you were to ride your camel for a full year to hear this tradition, it would not have been enough!”
The above tradition is not part of Kamil az-Ziyarat. But a student of the author - may Allah's mercy be on him - added it because of its importance.
Tradition 1: Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) asked one of his followers, “Do you perform the Ziyarah of Imam Al-Husayn ('a)?”
The man replied, “Yes, I go to his Ziyarah once every two or three years.”
Imam ('a) became angry and said, “By Allah, besides whom there is no god, if you go more frequently, you will be in a better state.”
The man asked, “May I be sacrificed on you, is it so valuable?”
Imam ('a) replied: Yes, by Allah. If I told you about the excellence of his Ziyarah and his grave, you would completely abandon Hajj and none of you would perform it. Woe on you, do you not know that Allah chose Karbala because of his grave as a safe and blessed sanctuary before He chose Mecca as a sanctuary?
I (the narrator) said, “Allah has made the performance of Hajj obligatory but has not mentioned the Ziyarah of Imam Al-Husayn ('a) in Quran.”
Imam ('a) replied: Even so. Indeed, this is a matter that Allah has chosen in this specific way.
Have you not heard the words of my father, Amir Al-Mu’minin, who said, “It is more appropriate to wipe the bottom of the foot (in Wudhu) than the top, but Allah has made the latter wiping the top obligatory on His servants.”
Don't you think that it would have been better if Arafat were inside the Holy Sanctuary, because of its honour? But Allah has chosen it to be elsewhere.
Tradition 2: Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) said: The land of the Ka’aba once said in pride, “Who is like me, Allah has built His house on me, people from far come to me and I have been chosen as Allah's sanctuary?”
Allah revealed to it: Keep quiet and calm down! I swear by My Glory and Magnificence that your honour compared to the honour which I have granted to the land of Karbala is like a drop of water on a needle dipped in the sea.
If it was not for the dust of Karbala, I would not have honoured you. If it was not for that which is held within the land of Karbala, I would have not created you nor would I have created the house about which you boasted.
Therefore, settle down, calm down and become humbled, lowly, humiliated, disgraced and degraded before the land of Karbala. Do not be proud or arrogant before it or I will make you sink and throw you in Hellfire.
Tradition 3: Imam Al-Baqir ('a) said: Allah, the blessed and exalted, created, blessed and sanctified the land of Karbala twenty-four thousand years before He created the Ka’aba. Hence it was blessed and sanctified before the creation of any created being and it will remain this way until Allah raises it to Paradise and appoints it as the best land in Paradise. It will be the best abode in Paradise in which Allah will make His friends abide.
Tradition 4: Imam As-Sajjad ('a) said: Allah, the Exalted chose the land of Karbala as a safe and blessed sanctuary twenty-four thousand years before He created the land of the Ka’aba and chose it as a sanctuary.
When Allah, the blessed and exalted, shall shake the earth and move it on Judgment Day, Karbala and its dust will ascend while it will be shining and pure. It will be placed in the best of the gardens and dwellings in Paradise. No one but the prophets and messengers - or he said the ‘Ul al-Azm from among the messengers - shall dwell in it.
Indeed, it will shine among the gardens of Paradise like a shining star shines among the stars for the people of the earth. And its radiating light will blur the vision of the inhabitants of Paradise.
And it shall cry out, “I am the sanctified, the blessed and the purified land of Allah, which held the body of the Chief of the Martyrs and the Leader of the Youth of Paradise.”
Tradition 5: Imam Al-Baqir ('a) said: Ghadiriyyah is the land on which Allah spoke to Musa Ibn ‘Imran ('a) and He confided in Nuh ('a). It is the most honourable land with Allah and if it was not so, Allah would not have entrusted (the bodies of) His Divine Authorities and prophets to it. So, you should perform the Ziyarah of our graves in Ghadiriyyah.
Tradition 6: Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) said: Ghadiriyyah is from the Turbah of Bayt al-Muqaddas.
Tradition 7: Allah's Messenger (S) said: My son will be buried in a land called Karbala. It is the land containing the dome of Islam (Basra) wherein Allah saved the believers who believed in Nuh at the time of Deluge.
Tradition 8: Imam Al-Baqir ('a) said: One who spends the night of Arafah in Karbala and stays there until Eid will be protected by Allah from harm throughout that year.
Tradition 9: Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) said: Perform the Ziyarah of Karbala and don't omit it, for indeed, the best of the sons of the prophets is buried in it. Indeed, the angels went to the Ziyarah of Karbala a thousand years before my grandfather, Imam Al-Husayn ('a) dwelled in it and not a night passes in which Jibra’il and Mikaeel do not go to his Ziyarah. O Yahya! Strive hard to go to that land.
Tradition 10: Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) said: Amir Al-Mu’minin ('a) and some of his companions passed by Karbala. When he passed by it, his eyes were filled with tears, and he said: This is where they will descend from their mounts. This is where they will unpack. This is where their blood will be shed. Glad tidings to you, O land! The blood of the loved ones will be spilled on your grounds.
Tradition 11: Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) said: Ali (‘a) was traveling with some people and when they were one or two miles before Karbala, Amir Al-Mu’minin ('a) went ahead. When he reached the place of the martyrdom of the martyrs of Karbala he said, “Two hundred prophets, two hundred successors and two hundred grandsons of the prophets died here; all of them and their followers were martyrs.”
Then Amir Al-Mu’minin ('a) circulated that land on his mule with his legs withdrawn from the stirrups and said, “This is where they will descend from their mounts and this is where they will be killed. No one from the past has preceded them in rank and no one in the future will attain their rank.”
Tradition 12: Same as no. 13.
Tradition 13: Imam Al-Baqir ('a) said: The Almighty Allah, created, blessed and sanctified Karbala twenty-four thousand years before He created the Ka’aba. Hence it was blessed and sanctified before the creation of any created being and it will remain this way. And Allah will make it the best land in Paradise. It will be the best abode in Paradise in which Allah will make His friends abide.
Tradition 14: Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) said: Indeed, Allah, the blessed and exalted, has elevated some lands and water bodies above others. Some of them boasted to others and some transgressed and they were punished for not being humble to Allah.
So, Allah empowered the polytheists over (the land of) Ka’aba and made Zamzam water salty, which ruined its taste.
Indeed, the land of Karbala and Euphrates water were the first land and body of water which glorified Allah, the blessed and exalted.
So, Allah blessed them and said to the Land of Karbala, “Speak of that with which the Almighty Allah has honoured you, for indeed, the lands and the waters have boasted to one another.”
The Land of Karbala said: I am the sacred and blessed land of Allah. Cure has been placed in my dust and water and I am not arrogant. Rather, I am humble and humiliated before He who has blessed me. I do not boast to those who are lower to me in rank. On the contrary, I am thankful to Allah.
So, Allah honoured it, increased His blessing on it for its humility and rewarded it with Imam Al-Husayn ('a) and his companions.
Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) added, “Allah elevates those who humble themselves before Him and He degrades those who are arrogant.”