Famous people such as Shimr ibn Dhi l-Jawshan and Tariq ibn...

Famous people such as Shimr ibn Dhi l-Jawshan and Tariq ibn Muhaffiz ibn Tha’laba were among them. According to Ibn A’tham and al-Khwarizmi, the soldiers and agents of ‘Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad mounted the captives on uncovered howdahs , moved them from city to city and treated them like infidel captives.

Imam Ali Zayn al-Abideen (PBUH) while narrating his experience in this journey said: “They mounted me on a crippled skinny camel with a wooden howdah that did not have any mat in it, while the head of Imam Husain (PBUH) was at the top of a spear and the women were behind me, and the spears were around us. If any of us shed a drop of tear, they would hit him on the head by the spears; until we arrived in Damascus. When we entered Damascus, I heard someone shouting: O people of Damascus!

These are the captives of a cursed household! [1] ” Meanwhile, before the arrival of the captives in Damascus, Yazid gave his orders to decorate the city. Sahl ibn Sa’d al-Sa’idi is one of the narrators who reported that the city was decorated and people were happy when the captives entered the city [2] . According to historical reports, the captives and the heads of martyrs of Karbala entered Damascus on Safar 1 from Bab Tuma or Bab al-Sa’at [3] .

They were taken to Umayyad Mosque and were kept on a raised platform there. Thereafter, Yazid ordered to decorate his palace and invited the elites of Damascus, then ordered to bring the captives into his palace. Reports denote that they brought the captives into the palace while they were tied to each other by ropes. In the presence of the captives, Yazid had put the head of Imam Husain (PBUH) in a gold tub and was hitting it with his staff.

When Sukayna and Fatima, the daughters of Imam Husain (PBUH), saw that; they shouted crying. It is narrated from Imam al-Rida (PBUH) that Yazid put the head of Imam Husain (PBUH) in a tub then put his food table on it, and started eating and drinking wine at that table with his companions. Then they put the table of Chess on that tub and started playing it. Whenever he won, he drank a glass of wine and poured the rest of it on the ground near the tub which was the head of Imam Husain (PBUH) [4] .

Some people who were present opposed Yazid’s actions, including Yahya ibn al-Hakam, Marwan ibn al-Hakam’s brother, whom Yazid punched on his chest, and Abu Barza al-Aslami, whom Yazid ordered to be taken out of the palace.