Shia Strength: [shia_strength] Fw: From Syria to Medina

HAZRAT ZAINAB'S SPEECH

Both Ibn Nama and Ibn TAwãs say that Zainab daughter of Ali ibn Abu Talib (.) heard Yaz§d (la-een) quoting the following verses by Ibn al-Zubari:

I wish my forefathers at Badr had witnessed

How the Khazraj are by the thorns annoyed,

They would have Glorified and Unified Allah

Then they would make tahil and say in elation:

May your hands, O Yaz§d, never be paralyzed!

We have killed the masters of their chiefs

And equated it with Badr, and it was so, indeed;

Hshim played with the dominion so

No news came, nor a revelation descended.

I do not belong to Khandaf if I do not

Seek revenge from Ahmed's offspring

For what he had done.

She reacted to these lines by stating the following:

All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. Allah has blessed His Messenger and all His Messenger's Progeny. Allah, Glory to Him, has said the truth when He said, "Then the end of those who committed evil was that they disbelieved in Allah's Signs and they were ridiculing them" (Qur'an, 30:10). Do you, O Yaz§d, think that when you blocked all the avenues before us, so we were driven as captives, that we are light in the sight of Allah and that you are superior to us? Or is it because you enjoy with Him a great status, so you look down at us and become arrogant, elated, when you see the world submissive to you and things are done as you want them, and when our authority and power became all yours? But wait! Have you forgotten that Allah has said, "Do not regard those who disbelieved that We grant them good for themselves? We only give them a respite so that they may increase their sins, and for them there is a humiliating torment"? (Qur'an, 3:178). Is it fair, O son of taliqs, that you keep your free and

slave women in their chambers and at the same time drive the daughters of the Messenger of Allah (.) as captives with their veils removed and faces exposed, taken by their enemies from one land to another, being viewed by those at watering places as well as those who man your forts, with their faces exposed to the looks of everyone near or distant, lowly or honourable, having none of their protectors with them nor any of their men? But what can be expected from one [descended from those] whose mouths chewed the livers of the purified ones and whose flesh grows out of the blood of the martyrs? How can it be expected that one who looks at us with grudge and animosity, with hatred and malice, would not hate us, we Ahl al-Bayt (.)? Besides, you, without feeling any guilt or weighing heavily what you say, recite saying:

Then they would make tahlil and say in elation:

May your hands, O Yaz§d, never be paralyzed!

How dare you hit the lips of Abu `Abdullah (.), the Master of the Youths of Paradise? But why should you not do so, since you stirred a wound that almost healed and all mercy is removed from your heart when you shed the blood of the offspring of Muhammed, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his Progeny, and the stars on earth from among the family of `Abd al-Muttalib? Then you cite your mentors as if you speak to them.. Soon shall you be lodged with them, and soon shall you wish you were paralyzed and muted and never said what you said nor did what you did. O Allah! Take what belongs to us out of his hands, seek revenge against all those who oppressed us, and let Your Wrath descend upon whoever shed our blood and killed our protectors! By Allah! You have burnt only your own skin! You have cut only your own flesh! You shall come face to face with the Messenger of Allah, peace of Allah be upon him and his Progeny, bearing the burdens of the blood which you have shed, the blood of his offspring, and of his sanctities which you violated, the sanctities of his women, his kinsfolk, his flesh and blood, when Allah gathers them together and seeks equity on their behalf. "And do not reckon those who are slain in the Way of Allah as dead. Nay! They are living with their Lord, receiving their sustenance" (Qur'an, 3:169). Allah suffices you as your Judge and Muhammed, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny, as your opponent, and Gabriel as your foe. All those who instigated you to do what you did and who put you in charge so that you might play havoc with the lives of the Muslims: how evil the end of the oppressors is and which of you shall have the worst place and will be the least protected? Although calamities have forced me to speak to you, I nevertheless see you small in my eyes and find your verbal attacks great, and I regard your rebuke too much to bear, but these eyes are tearful, and the chests are filled with depression. What is even more strange is that the honoured Party of Allah is being killed by the taleeq party of Satan. Such hands are dripping with our blood; such mouths are feeding on our flesh, while those sacred and pure corpses are offered as food to the wild beasts of the desert and are dirtied by the brutes. If you regard us as your booty, you shall soon find us as your opponents, that will be when you find nothing but what your hands had committed, and your Lord never treats His servants unjustly. To Allah is my complaint, and upon Him do I rely. So

scheme whatever you wish to scheme, and carry out your plots, and intensify your efforts, for by Allah, you shall never be able to obliterate our mention, nor will you ever be able to kill our inspiration, nor will your shame ever be washed away. Your view shall be proven futile, your days numbered, and your wealth wasted on the Day when the caller calls out, "The curse of Allah be upon the oppressors." All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, Who sealed the life of our early ones with happiness and forgiveness, and that of our last with martyrdom and mercy.

We plead to Allah to complete His rewards for them and grant them an increase and make succession good for us; He is the most Merciful, the most Compassionate. Allah suffices us, and how great He is!

Yaz§d responded to her speech by first quoting this poetic verse:

O cry, a praiseworthy one,

How easy it is for the mourners to mourn!

Anyone who is familiar with Yazid and with his misguidance cannot be surprised at all to hear him asking with a big mouth the Syrian jackals around him: "Do you know where Fatima's son came from, and what prompted

him to do what he did and fall into the pitfalls of what he committed?" They answered in the negative. Said he, "He claims that his father is better than my father, that his mother Fatima (.) daughter of the Messenger of Allah (.) is better than mine, that his grandfather (.) is better than mine, and that he is more worthy than me of taking charge. As regarding his saying that his father is better than my father, my father had asked Allah, the Great, the Sublime, to arbitrate between them, and people know best in whose favour He ruled. As regarding his saying that his mother is better than mine, by my life, Fatima (.) daughter of the Messenger of Allah (.) is better than my mother. As regarding his saying that his grandfather (.) is better than my grandfather, by my life, nobody who believes in Allah and in the Last Day can find anyone among us equal to the Messenger of Allah. But he speaks with a little understanding of what he says and has not read the verse saying, `Say: Lord! Owner of the domain! You grant authority to whomsoever You please, and you take the authority from whomsoever You please; You exalt whomsoever You please, and You abase whomsoever You please' (Qur'an,3:26), and he did not read the verse saying, `Allah grants His domain to whomsoever He pleases' (Qur'an,2:247)."