to me saying, ‘The fruits have now ripened and the pasture is green; come to us, for you will be arriving at a fully-mustered army’?”
They replied, “We did no such thing.”
He said, “Glory be to Allah! By Allah, you certainly did.”
Then he added, “People, since you have come to detest me, allow me to withdraw from you.”
Qays ibn al-Ashʿath said to him, “Will you not submit to the judgement of your cousins? They will not harm you; from them you will see only what you like.”
Al-Ḥusayn answered, “You are a brother to your brother. Would you have the Banū Hāshim demand of you more than the blood of Muslim ibn ʿAqīl? By Allah, I will never surrender to them with a hand of humiliation, nor will I submit like a slave (1).”
They then began to edge toward him, but a group—some thirty horsemen, it is said—broke away and joined al-Ḥusayn’s ranks. Among them was al-Ḥurr ibn Yazīd, commander of Ibn Ziyād’s vanguard. He apologized to al-Ḥusayn, saying, “Had I known they were set on this course, I would have marched with you to Yazīd.” Al-Ḥusayn accepted his apology. Al-Ḥurr then rode ahead of al-Ḥusayn’s companions and called out to ʿUmar ibn Saʿd:
“Woe to you! Will you not accept from the grandson of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ the three proposals he is offering you?”
He replied, “Were the matter mine to decide, I would accept.”
Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn now advanced on horseback, fully armed, and declared, “People of Kūfa! A warning to you—again, a warning—of Allah’s punishment. It is a Muslim’s duty to give sincere counsel to his fellow Muslim, and up to this moment we are brothers, upon one religion and one community, so long as the sword has not come between us. Once the sword is drawn, the bond is cut: we shall be one people and you another. Allah has tested us and you by the offspring of His Prophet, to see what we and you will do. We summon you to aid them and to abandon the tyrant, son of a tyrant, ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyād. From the two of them you have seen nothing but evil throughout their rule: they gouge out your eyes, cut off your hands and feet, mutilate you, and kill your nobles and Qur’an-reciters—men like Ḥujr ibn ʿAdī and his companions, Hānī ibn ʿUrwah and their like.”
They cursed him, praised Ibn Ziyād and prayed for him, saying, “We will not withdraw until we kill your leader and those with him.”
He replied, “The children of Fāṭimah are more deserving of love and support than the son of Sumayyah. If you will not help them, then I seek Allah’s protection for you against killing them. Leave this man to go to his cousin Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah wherever he wishes, for—by my life—Yazīd would be satisfied with your obedience without killing al-Ḥusayn.”
Shamir ibn Dhī al-Jawshan then shot an arrow at him and said, “Be quiet—may Allah silence your tongue (2); you have wearied us (3) with your incessant talk.”
Zuhayr retorted, “You son of the man who urinates on his heels! Is it you I am addressing (4)? You are nothing but a brute. By Allah, I doubt you can recite even two verses of Allah’s Book correctly. So await disgrace on the Day of Resurrection and a painful punishment.”
Shamir said, “Allah will slay you and your companion within the hour.”
Zuhayr replied, “Is it death…"