He kept reciting:

“O Time! Fie upon you for a companion—
How many, at sunrise and at dusk,
Have you left—friend or seeker—lying slain!
Time is never content with a substitute.
The affair belongs to the Majestic alone,
And every living soul must walk your path.”

He repeated these verses two or three times until I had memorised them and grasped what he meant; tears rose to my throat [so I repeated them, fell silent, and realised that the trial was imminent] (1).

As for my aunt, she rose bare-headed, came up to him and cried, “Alas for my bereavement! Would that death had robbed me of life today! My mother Fāṭimah is gone, my father ʿAlī is gone, and my brother Ḥasan is gone. O successor of those who have passed, refuge of those who remain!”

He looked at her and said, “My dear sister, [do not let Satan take away your composure].”

She replied, “May my father and mother be your ransom, Abū ʿAbd Allāh! Are you resolved to be killed?” Then she struck her face, tore open her collar, and collapsed unconscious. He stood over her, sprinkled water on her face, and said, “My sister, (2) fear Allah, be steadfast, and seek comfort in the consolation Allah gives. Know that the people of the earth all die, that the inhabitants of the heavens do not remain, and that everything perishes save the Face of Allah Who created the creation by His power, causes them to die by His might and dominion, and will restore them so that they may worship Him (3) alone. He is One, without partner. Know, too, that my father was better than I, my mother was better than I, and my brother was better than I; for me, for them, and for every Muslim the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is a noble example.” He then strictly forbade her to do anything of the sort after his death. Taking her by the hand, he led her back to where I was.

He then went out to his companions and ordered them to draw their tents close together until their guy-ropes interlocked, leaving the enemy only a single approach, with the tents on their right, their left, and behind them (4).

Al-Ḥusayn and his companions spent the entire night in prayer—standing, seeking forgiveness, supplicating, and humbly imploring. The cavalry assigned to guard them kept circling behind, under the command of ʿAzrah ibn Qays al-Aḥmasī, while al-Ḥusayn was reciting:

“Let not those who disbelieve think that Our granting them respite is good for them. We grant them respite only so that they may increase in sin; for them is a humiliating punishment. (178) Allah would not leave the believers in the state you were in until He separated the wicked from the good …” (Qur’an 3:178-179).

A man from among the cavalry of Ibn Ziyād’s force who were on guard heard him and said, “By the Lord of the Kaʿbah, we are the good ones—Allah has set us apart from you!”

I recognised him and said to Burayr ibn Khudayr (5), “Do you know who that is?”

He replied, “No.”

I said, “That is Abū Ḥarb al-Sabīʿī, ʿUbayd Allah ibn Shumayr—a notorious joker and idler.”