he said to them, “Will you really not accept what these people are offering you? By Allah, even had the Turks or the Daylamites made this request of you, it would not be lawful for you to turn them away!” Yet they insisted that only Ibn Ziyād’s judgment would suffice. At that, al-Ḥurr struck his horse on the face and galloped over to al-Ḥusayn and his followers. They assumed he had come to fight them, but when he drew near he reversed his shield and gave them greetings of peace. He then wheeled against Ibn Ziyād’s men, killed two of them, and was himself killed—may Allah have mercy on him. (1)

It is also related that Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn al-Bajalī met al-Ḥusayn while performing the pilgrimage and subsequently accompanied him. Ibn Abī Makhramah al-Murādī came out against al-Ḥusayn, together with two other men—ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥajjāj and Maʿn al-Sulamī. (2) [al-Ḥuṣayn remarked: I saw the two of them. He added:] (3)

Al-Ḥusayn continued to address the delegation Ibn Ziyād had sent against him [and I was watching him] (4) while he wore a striped woolen cloak. When he finished speaking, he turned away, whereupon a man from Banū Tamīm named ʿAmr al-Ṭuhawī shot him with an arrow between his shoulders; I could see the arrow hanging from his cloak. After they rejected his proposal, he went back to his battle line—about one hundred men as I looked on: five were direct descendants of ʿAlī, sixteen were from Banū Hāshim, one man from Banū Sulaym was their ally, another from Banū Kinānah was likewise allied with them, and there was also a cousin of Ibn Ziyād among them.

Al-Ḥuṣayn further said: Saʿd ibn ʿUbaydah told me, “We were standing ankle-deep in the water with ʿUmar ibn Saʿd when a man approached, spoke to him in private, and said, ‘Ibn Ziyād has sent Juwayriyah ibn Badr al-Tamīmī to you, ordering that, if you do not fight these people, he is to strike off your head.’ Immediately ʿUmar leapt onto his horse, called for his armor, donned it while still mounted, rallied the men, advanced against al-Ḥusayn, and battle was joined.

“Al-Ḥusayn’s head was then brought to Ibn Ziyād and set before him. He prodded its nose with his staff, saying, ‘Abū ʿAbd Allah’s hair has already begun to gray.’ (5)

“The women—his wives, daughters, and other family members—were also brought in. The best thing Ibn Ziyād did for them was to order that they be lodged in a separate house, provide them with a daily allowance, and grant them funds for sustenance and clothing.

“Two boys, sons of ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar—or perhaps sons of Ibn Abī Jaʿfar—slipped away to a man of the Ṭayyʾ tribe, seeking his protection. He slew them both, brought their heads, and laid them before Ibn Ziyād. Ibn Ziyād contemplated having him executed and ordered that his house be demolished. (6)

“A client of Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān told me: When al-Ḥusayn’s head was brought before Yazid and set down in front of him, I saw him weep and say, ‘Had any bond of kinship existed between him and Ibn Ziyād, he would never have treated him in this manner.’ ” (7)