at the door waiting for him, when Muslim ibn ʿAqil said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” She brought him some, then went inside; when she returned she found him still there.
She asked, “Did you not drink?”
“Yes,” he replied.
She said, “Then go back to your people—may Allah keep you well. It is neither proper for you to sit at my door nor would I approve it for you.”
He rose and said, “O maidservant of Allah! I have neither a house nor a clan in this town. Would you like to earn a reward, do a kindness, and receive gratitude from us later on?”
She asked, “Servant of Allah, what is it?”
He said, “I am Muslim ibn ʿAqil. These people have lied to me and betrayed me.”
“You are Muslim?” she exclaimed.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Then come in,” she said. She led him to a room in her house other than the one she occupied, spread bedding for him, and offered him supper, but he would not eat.
Before long her son returned. Seeing his mother go in and out repeatedly, he asked what was the matter. She said, “My son, mind your own business.” He persisted, so she made him promise not to tell anyone; then she informed him about Muslim. He lay down until morning, silent and saying nothing.
As for ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyad, he left the palace after the late ʿIshaʾ prayer with the commanders and nobles who were with him. He led them in the ʿIshaʾ prayer in the congregational mosque, then addressed them, demanding that they bring him Muslim ibn ʿAqil and urging them to search for him. “Whoever is found harboring him and fails to report it, his blood is forfeit; whoever brings him shall receive his blood-money,” he declared. He summoned the police, commanded them to pursue the matter, and threatened them.
When morning came, the son of that old woman went to ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ashʿath and told him that Muslim ibn ʿAqil was in their house. ʿAbd al-Rahman went to his father, who was with Ibn Ziyad, and whispered the news to him. Ibn Ziyad asked, “What did he whisper to you?” When he learned the report, he prodded him (1) in the side with his cane and said, “Go and bring him to me this instant.”
Ibn Ziyad then dispatched ʿAmr (2) ibn Hurayth al-Makhzumi—who was in charge of his police—together with ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn al-Ashʿath and seventy or eighty horsemen. Muslim was unaware until the house in which he was staying was surrounded. They burst in on him, whereupon he seized his sword and drove them out of the house three times, receiving wounds to both his upper and lower lips. They began pelting him with stones and setting bundles of reeds aflame, hurling them onto the house. When he could endure no more, he charged out with his sword and fought them. ʿAbd al-Rahman offered him safe-conduct; Muslim surrendered his hand to him. They brought a mule, mounted him on it, and stripped him of his sword. Realizing he no longer controlled his fate, he wept, knowing he was to be killed.
He despaired of saving himself and said, “Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.”
Someone nearby remarked, “A man who sought what you sought does not weep when this befalls him.”
He replied, “By Allah, I do not weep for myself; I weep for al-Husayn and the family of al-Husayn. He left Mecca for you today, or perhaps yesterday.”
Then he turned to Muhammad ibn al-Ashʿath and said, “If you can, send word to al-Husayn from me, telling him to turn back—do so.” Muhammad ibn al-Ashʿath sent a message urging al-Husayn to return, but the messenger could not persuade him. Al-Husayn said, “Everything the Almighty has decreed will surely come to pass.” (3)