الحسين بن عبد الرحمان

I was with Amir al-Mu’minin (as) when he went out to Siffin. When he disembarked in Naynawa, on the coast of the Euphrates, he called out at the top of his lungs: O Ibn `Abbas! Do you recognize this spot? So, I said to him: I do not recognize it, Amir al-Mu’minin. So, `Ali (as) said: Were you to recognize it as I recognize it, you would not be able to cross it without weeping as I weep. He said: Then, he wept for a long time, until his beard was soaked, and the tears dripped onto his chest. We wept with him; while he was saying: Oh, oh! What do I have to do with the Family of Abi Sufyan? What do I have to do with the Family of Harb? The Party of Satan, the Friends of Disbelief! Be patient, O Aba `Abdillah, for they have treated your father similar to how they treat you. Then, he called for water, and he made ablution for prayer. He prayed for as long as Allah willed for him to pray. Then, he repeated his previous words; till he became sleepy at the end of his hour of praying and words. Then, he regained focus and said: O Ibn `Abbas! So, I said: I am here. So, he said: Shall I not tell you about what I saw in my dream when I laid down? So, I said: Your eyes slept, but you saw goodness, Amir al-Mu’minin. He said: [In my dream,] it was as though I saw men descend from heaven with white flags. Their swords were unsheathed, and they were shining brightly. They created a perimeter around this land. Then, I saw as though these palm trees were striking the ground with their branches, striking with vain blood. It was as though I saw al-Husayn – my son, my youngling, my blood, my mind – was drowning in it, seeking help but not finding help. It was as though the shining men that had descended from heaven were calling to him and saying: “Patience, Family of Muhammad, for you are killed by the hands of the evilest of mankind. This is Paradise, Aba `Abdillah, and it longs for you.” Then, they consoled me, saying: “O Aba’l Hasan! Be glad, for Allah will bring joy to your eye through him on the Day of Resurrection – the Day that the people will be stood before the Lord of the Worlds.” Then, I regained focus to this. By Him in whose hand is my soul, the Truthful and Trusted Abu’l Qasim (s) told me that I would see this when I would go out to [fight] the betraying people (ahl al-baghi). This is a land of calamity and affliction (karb wa bala’), where al-Husayn and seventeen men from my descendants and the descendants of Fatima will be buried. It is known in the heavens. The land of calamity and affliction is mentioned just as the land of the Two Sanctuaries and the land of Bayt al-Maqdis is mentioned. Then, he said: O Ibn `Abbas! Look for the manure of gazelles for me, for by Allah, I have not lied, nor have I been lied to. It is yellow, and its colour is like saffron. Ibn `Abbas said: So, I looked for it, and I found it gathered. So, I called for him: O Amir al-Mu’minin! I have found what you have described to me. So, `Ali (as) said: Allah and His The Messenger have spoken the truth. Then, he (as) stood and ran toward it. He picked it up and smelled it. He said: This is precisely it. Do you know, Ibn `Abbas, what this manure is? This is what `Isa b. Maryam (as) smelled. He passed by it with his apostles, and he saw a gazelle here weeping. So, `Isa (as) sat down, and the apostles sat down with him. He wept, and the apostles wept too, not knowing why he sat down and why he was weeping. So, they said: “O Spirit of Allah and His Word! What makes you weep?” He said: “Do you know what land this is?” They said: “No.” He said: “This is the land in which the son of the Messenger, Ahmad, and the son of the Free, the Pure, the Maiden, the one in the likeness of my mother, will be killed and will die in. The clay [here] is sweeter than musk, because it is the clay of the martyred son – such is the clay of the prophets and the children of the prophets. This gazelle speaks to me, and it says that it grazes this land longing for the soil of the blessed son. It believes that it is safe in this land.” Then, he picked up some of the manure with his hand and smelled it. He said: “This manure of the gazelle is fragrant because of the grass of this place. O Allah! Preserve it so that his father may also smell it, so that it may be a source of consolation and relief for him.” He said: So, it remained for the people until this day, and it has been yellowed due to its lengthy time. This is a land of calamity and affliction. Then, he said at the top of his lungs: O Lord of `Isa b. Maryam! Do not bless his murderers, nor those who help them in it, nor those who desert him. Then, he wept for a long time, and we wept with him, until he fainted onto his face for a long time. Then, he awoke, took the manure, and wrapped it in his cloak. He commanded me to do the same. Then, he said: O Ibn `Abbas! If you see it bursting with congealed blood and dripping in blood, then know that Aba `Abdillah has been killed here and buried. Ibn `Abbas said: By Allah, I preserved it better than some of the things that Allah obligated over me. I did not move it from the edge of my sleeve. One day, I was sleeping in the house, when I found it dripping congealed blood. My sleeve was filled with congealed blood, so I sat weeping, and I said: By Allah, al-Husayn has been killed. By Allah, `Ali has never lied to me in what he has said to me. He has never informed me of a thing except that it was as he said, because the Messenger of Allah (s) would inform him of things that he would not inform others. So, I panicked, and I left, and that was at Fajr. By Allah, I saw that Medina was filled with fog that could not be seen through. Then, the Sun rose, and I saw that it was as though it was eclipsed. I saw that it was as though the walls of Medina were covered in congealed blood. So, I sat weeping, and I said: By Allah, al-Husayn has been killed. I heard a voice from the direction of the house, and it was saying: Be patient, O Family of the Messenger, The feeble son has been killed, The Trustworthy Spirit has descended, With weeping and wailing. Then, it wept at the top of its lungs, and I wept. That hour became resolute with me – it was the month of Muharram, the day of `Ashura’, and ten days had passed from it. I found that he was killed on the same day that we had been informed of. So, I told this hadith to those who were with him, and they said: By Allah, we heard the same thing that you heard while we were in battle. We did not know who [said it], so we believed that it was al-Khidr (as).