the saying of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—about me and my brother: “These two are the chiefs of the youth of Paradise”?
Shimr retorted, “He worships Allah on a knife-edge—if he even understands what he is saying.”
ʿUmar replied, “Had the decision lain with me, I would have granted your request.”
Husayn said, “O ʿUmar! A day (1) will surely come, on account of what you see, that will grieve you. O Allah, the people of Iraq have enticed and betrayed me, and they treated my brother as they did. O Allah, scatter their ranks and count them one by one.”
The first to fight was a client of ʿUbayd (2) Allah ibn Ziyad. ʿAbd Allah ibn Tamim al-Kalbi stepped forward against him and killed him, while Husayn was seated, clad in a dark khazz cloak. Arrows were falling all around him, and one shaft struck his three-year-old son. Husayn thereupon donned his coat of mail, and his companions fought around him until they were all slain. Then his son ʿAli advanced, chanting:
“I am ʿAli, son of al-Husayn, son of ʿAli—
By the House of God, we are the ones most entitled to the Prophet!”
He was struck with a thrust, and Husayn became thirsty. A man brought him water, but as he reached for it, Husayn ibn Tamim loosed an arrow that lodged in his mouth. Husayn caught the blood in his hands and praised Allah.
He moved toward the embankment, seeking the Euphrates, but they barred him from the water. One of them shot an arrow that pierced his palate. For most of the day no one dared approach him, until the infantry surrounded him. Steadfast and composed, he fought like a valiant horseman; whenever he charged, they scattered before him as goats scatter when a lion springs upon them. At last Shimr shouted, “May your mothers be bereaved of you! What are you waiting for?”
Zurʿah al-Tamimi closed in and struck his shoulder, but Husayn struck him on the collar-bone and felled him. Then Sinan al-Nakhaʿi advanced and thrust his spear into Husayn’s collar-bone and chest, and he fell. Sinan dismounted to sever his head, but Khawli al-Asbahi dismounted as well, severed it, and carried it to ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad, who gave him nothing.
It was found that Husayn had sustained thirty-three wounds, and from the army of ʿUmar ibn