Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (3/309)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

He said: An arrow flew and struck one of his little sons. Husayn wiped the blood from the child, praying:
“O Allah, pass judgment between us and our people! We summoned them to champion us, yet they kill us.”

He fought on until he was slain. A man from Madhhij killed him, severed his head, and took it to ʿUbayd Allah, saying:
“Load my saddle-bags with gold,
for I have slain the veiled king;
I have killed the best of men in mother and father.(1)”

ʿUbayd Allah then dispatched the man to Yazid with the head. It was placed before Yazid while Abū Barzah al-Aslamī sat nearby. Yazid began tapping the mouth with a cane and reciting:(2)
“We split the skulls of men who deemed themselves highborn,
while they proved the most defiant and the most unjust.”

So narrated Abū Barzah. What is reliably transmitted, however, is that this happened in the presence of ʿUbayd Allah.

He added: Abū Barzah cried out, “Take away your cane! I have seen the Messenger of Allah ﷺ put his lips on those very lips.”

He continued: ʿUmar ibn Saʿd sent Husayn’s womenfolk and children to ʿUbayd Allah.(3)

None were left save a lad who had been ill and was with the women. ʿUbayd Allah ordered him killed, but his aunt Zaynab threw herself over him, saying, “He will not be killed unless you kill me first.” He took pity on her, supplied the family, and sent them on to Syria. When they reached Yazid, he gathered those in attendance, and they congratulated him; then a man rose

(1) See al-Tabarani, no. 2852. (2) The verse is by Husayn b. al-Hammam b. Rabiʿa al-Murri al-Dhubyani, a pre-Islamic poet-warrior who headed the clan of Banu Sahm b. Murra and was nicknamed "Maniʿ al-Daym" (the one who repels oppression). He was among those who abandoned idol-worship in the Jahiliyya period. The line belongs to a qasida that opens: “Jaza Allahu afnaʾ al-ʿashira kullaha / bi-Darati mawduʿ ʿuquqan wa-mathma” (“May God requite every branch of the clan / at Darat Mawduʿ with disobedience and sin”). The poem is found in al-Mufaddaliyyat, pp. 64–69; see that edition for its full documentation. (3) See al-Tabarani, no. 2846, and al-Haythami, Majmaʿ, 9/193.

قَالَ: وَيَجِيْءُ سَهْمٌ، فَيَقَعُ بِابْنٍ لَهُ صَغِيْرٍ، فَجَعَلَ يَمْسَحُ الدَّمَ عَنْهُ، وَيَقُوْلُ: اللَّهُمَّ احْكُمْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ قَوْمِنَا، دَعَوْنَا لِيَنْصُرُونَا، ثُمَّ يَقْتُلُوْنَنَا. ثُمَّ قَاتَلَ حَتَّى قُتِلَ، قَتَلَهُ رَجُلٌ مَذْحِجِيٌّ، وَحَزَّ رَأْسَهُ، وَمَضَى بِهِ إِلَى عُبَيْدِ اللهِ، فَقَالَ: أَوْقِرْ رِكَابِي ذَهَبَا ... فَقَدْ قَتَلْتُ المَلِكَ المُحَجَّبَا قَتَلْتُ خَيْرَ النَّاسِ أُمّاً وَأَبَا (١) ... فَوفَدَهُ إِلَى يَزِيْدَ وَمَعَهُ الرَّأْسُ، فَوُضِعَ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ، وَعِنْدَهُ أَبُو بَرْزَةَ الأَسْلَمِيُّ؛ فَجَعَلَ يَزِيْدُ يَنكُتُ بِالقَضِيْبِ عَلَى فِيْهِ، وَيَقُوْلُ (٢) : نُفَلِّقُ هَاماً مِنْ أُنَاسٍ أَعِزَّةٍ ... عَلَيْنَا وَهُم كَانُوا أَعَقَّ وَأَظْلَمَا كَذَا قَالَ أَبُو بَرْزَةَ. وَإِنَّمَا المَحْفُوظُ أَنَّ ذَلِكَ كَانَ عِنْدَ عُبَيْدِ اللهِ. قَالَ: فَقَالَ أَبُو بَرْزَةَ: ارْفَعْ قَضِيبَكَ؛ لَقَدْ رَأَيتُ رَسُوْلَ اللهِ ﷺ فَاهُ عَلَى فِيْهِ. قَالَ: وَسَرَّحَ عُمَرُ بنُ سَعْدٍ بِحَرِيْمِهِ وَعِيَالِهِ إِلَى عُبَيْدِ اللهِ (٣) . وَلَمْ يَكُنْ بَقِيَ مِنْهُم إِلاَّ غُلاَمٌ كَانَ مَرِيضاً مَعَ النِّسَاءِ، فَأَمَرَ بِهِ عُبَيْدُ اللهِ لِيُقْتَلَ، فَطَرَحَتْ عَمَّتُهُ زَيْنَبُ نَفْسَهَا عَلَيْهِ، وَقَالَتْ: لاَ يُقتَلُ حَتَّى تَقْتُلُوْنِي. فَرَقَّ لَهَا، وَجَهَّزَهُم إِلَى الشَّامِ، فَلَمَّا قَدِمُوا عَلَى يَزِيْدَ، جَمَعَ مَنْ كَانَ بِحَضَرتِهِ، وَهَنَّؤُوهُ؛ فَقَامَ رَجُلٌ

(١) انظر " الطبراني " (٢٨٥٢) . (٢) هو للحصين بن الحمام بن ربيعة المري الذبياني، شاعر فارس جاهلي كان سيد بني سهم بن مرة، ويلقب " مانع الضيم " وهو ممن نبذوا عبادة الاوثان في الجاهلية. والبيت من قصيدة مطلعها: جزى الله أفناء العشيرة كلها * بدارة موضوع عقوقا ومأثما وهي في " المفضليات ". ص ٦٤ - ٦٩ فانظر تخريجها ثمة. (٣) انظر " الطبراني " (٢٨٤٦) و" المجمع " ٩ / ١٩٣.