You are now among us in a similar situation.

You are now among us in a similar situation. Whoever betrays you betrays no one but himself. You go wherever you go. We will be with you, whatever you face, East or West. Indeed, by God, we do not hesitate to meet our Lord. We speak from our hearts and from our minds. We follow whoever follows you and we are enemies of whoever is your enemy.” Then, the Imam asked the residents of the area, Nineveh and Ghadriyyah, to sell their property to him for 60,000 Dirhams.

He said, “All of the property is for you, on one condition, that whoever wants to visit my grave, you lead them to it.” The area was four miles by four miles. He let them keep the money and he gave the land back to them, then wrote a one-line letter to his brother, Muhammad Ibn al‑Hanafiyyah, saying, “Indeed, the world seems not to be and the Hereafter is certain.” Meanwhile, Hurr wrote to Ibn Ziyad telling him of the events.

Ibn Ziyad replied in a letter to Imam Husayn saying, “O Husayn, I have heard that you have settled in Karbāla’ . The leader of the faithful Yazid has written and ordered me not to sleep or be full with drink until I send you to your Lord or you accept my rule and the rule of Yazid.” The Imam read the letter and let it fall to the ground.

After he dropped it he said, “People who want to please anyone but God will not be successful.” Ibn Ziyad’s messenger asked for a reply and the Imam said, “He has no reply from me because the punishment of God is certain for him.” When the messenger came back to Ibn Ziyad and told him what happened, he became very angry. He stood up and ordered ‘Umar Ibn Sa’d to march towards Karbāla’ with an army of 4,000 troops.

He even wrote a promise for ‘Umar Ibn Sa’d to appoint him as governor of Ray in Persia if he goes to Karbāla’ and kills Imam Husayn. When Ibn Ziyad finished writing, he extended his arm and mentioned for ‘Umar to take it. ‘Umar was reluctant and Ibn Ziyad took the paper back. ‘Umar left the governor and gathered all of his friends to consult them. All of them warned him not to go.

The son of his sister Hamzah Ibn Mughirah Ibn Shu’bah told him, “I ask you by God not to go and not to fight Imam Husayn even if you become governor of the whole world.” In the morning, he met with Ibn Ziyad and said, “I am not willing to go and fight Imam Husayn. I have brought for you a list of other people to send to fight the Imam.” Ibn Ziyad said, “I am not asking you to tell me whom to send to fight.