1668 — Abū Saʿīd Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ziyād al-Aʿrābī narrated to us, saying: Yahyā ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abdullah ibn al-Zibriqān narrated to us, saying: Shabābah ibn Sawwār narrated to us, saying: Yahyā ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Sālim al-Asadī narrated to us, saying: I heard al-Shaʿbī narrate from Ibn Umar that he was at an estate of his when word reached him that al-Husayn ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) ⦗2177⦘ had set out for Iraq. He caught up with him after traveling for several nights and asked, “Where are you headed?”

“Iraq,” he replied. He had with him bundles of letters and said, “These are their pledges of allegiance.”

Ibn Umar said, “Do not go to them.” But al-Husayn refused. Ibn Umar then said, “I shall relate a hadith to you. Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and gave him the choice between this world and the Hereafter. He chose the Hereafter and did not desire this world. All of you are a part of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and none of you will ever have authority over it. Allah—glorious is His majesty—has turned it away from you only for what is better for you.”

Al-Husayn still refused to turn back, so Ibn Umar embraced him, wept, and said, “I entrust you to Allah as one destined to be slain.”