It is reported that the men who slew him returned and spent the night drinking wine while the head lay before them. Suddenly an iron pen appeared and, in blood, traced upon the wall this couplet:
“Shall a nation that has slain Ḥusayn
still hope for his grandfather’s intercession on the Day of Reckoning?” ⦗1⦘

Imam Aḥmad said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and ʿAffān narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us, from ʿAmmār ibn Abī ʿAmmār, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

“I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a dream at midday⦗2⦘, his hair disheveled and covered with dust, holding a flask filled with blood. I said, ‘May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah—what is this?’ He replied, ‘This is the blood of Ḥusayn and his companions; I have been gathering it since this morning.’” ʿAmmār added: “We counted the day and discovered that he had been killed on that very day.” Aḥmad alone relates this report⦗3⦘, and its chain is strong.

Ibn Abī’l-Dunyā said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muḥammad ibn Hāniʾ Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Naḥwī narrated to us; Maʿdī ibn Sulaymān narrated to us⦗4⦘; ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Judʿān narrated:

Ibn ʿAbbās awoke from sleep, recited “We belong to Allah and to Him we return,” and said, “By Allah, Ḥusayn has been killed.” His companions asked, “Why do you say that, Ibn ʿAbbās?” He replied,

“I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ holding a vial of blood. He said, ‘Do you know what my community has done after me? They have killed my son Ḥusayn, and this is his blood and the blood of his companions which I am raising up to Allah.’”

They recorded the very day and hour, and only twenty-four days later news reached Madinah that he had been killed on that same day and at that same hour.

Al-Tirmidhī relates⦗5⦘—through Abū Saʿīd al-Ashaj, Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar, and Razīn—from Salmā, who said:

I entered upon Umm Salamah while she was weeping. I asked, “What makes you weep?” She said, “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a dream; dust was upon his head and beard. I asked, ‘What is the matter with you, O Messenger of Allah?’ He replied, ‘I have just witnessed the killing of Ḥusayn.’”

Muḥammad ibn Saʿd⦗6⦘ reported: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Anṣārī informed us; Qurrāh ibn Khālid related to us; ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid told me—from Shahr ibn Ḥawshab—who said:

We were with Umm Salamah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, when we heard a woman cry out. She approached Umm Salamah and said, “Ḥusayn has been killed!” Umm Salamah exclaimed, “Have they really done it? May Allah fill their graves—or their houses—with fire!” She then fell unconscious, and we rose to attend to her.