In another account recorded by Ibn Jarīr (1), when Muslim ibn ʿAqīl began to weep, ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbbās al-Sulamī (2) said to him, “Anyone who seeks what you are seeking does not weep when something like this befalls him.”

Muslim replied, “By Allah, I am not weeping for myself, nor do I lament my own death—though I would never wish even the blink of an eye’s destruction for me. Rather, I weep for my family who are on their way to Kūfa; I weep for al-Ḥusayn and the household of al-Ḥusayn.”

He then turned to Muḥammad ibn al-Ashʿath and said, “Servant of Allah! By Allah, I can see that you will not be able to carry out the pledge of security you have given me. Is there any good you can still do? Could you send someone, in my name, to convey a message to al-Ḥusayn? I think that he and the members of his household have already set out toward you today, or will do so tomorrow, and it is over this that you see my distress.

“Say to him: ‘Ibn ʿAqīl has sent me to you while he is in the people’s hands as a captive who does not know whether morning or evening will come before he is killed. He says to you: Go back with your family, and let not the people of Kūfa deceive you. They are the very same people your father longed to part from through death or killing. The people of Kūfa have lied to you and to me, and one who has been lied to can form no sound judgment.’”

Ibn al-Ashʿath replied, “By Allah, I most certainly shall, and I will inform Ibn Ziyād that I have granted you protection.”

Abū Mikhnaf said: Muḥammad ibn al-Ashʿath then summoned Iyās ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Ṭāʾī of Banū Mālik [ibn ʿAmr] (3) ibn Thumāmah—who was a poet—and told him, “Go to al-Ḥusayn and deliver this letter.” He wrote in it what Ibn ʿAqīl had instructed, gave him a mount, and undertook to look after his family and his house. Iyās set out until he met al-Ḥusayn at Zubālah, four nights’ journey from Kūfa, informed him of the events, and conveyed the message.

Al-Ḥusayn said, “Whatever has been decreed is coming to pass. We count our lives before Allah, and the corruption of our rulers.”

When Muslim reached the gate of the palace and wished to drink some water, Muslim ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī said to him, “Do you see how cool it is? By Allah, you will never taste it until you taste boiling water in the Fire of Hell.”

Ibn ʿAqīl asked, “Woe to you, who are you?”

He replied, “I am the one who recognised the truth when you denied it, who gave sincere counsel to his ruler when you betrayed him, and who heard and obeyed while you disobeyed—I am Muslim ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī.”

Muslim said, “May your mother be bereft of you! How harsh and uncouth, how hard-hearted and coarse you are, son of Bāhila! By Allah, you are more deserving of boiling water and the Fire of Hell.”

Description of al-Ḥusayn’s Departure for Iraq

“When the letters from the people of Iraq arrived incessantly to al-Ḥusayn, and envoys kept travelling back and forth between them—and [the letter of Muslim ibn ʿAqīl reached him urging him to come with his family] (4)—then, in the midst of all that, the killing of Muslim ibn ʿAqīl occurred, while al-Ḥusayn