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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Maqtal al-Husayn The Eleventh Night in the Company of al-Husayn (‘a) Anyone who follows the path of the Infallible Imams, peace be upon them, will surely feel very grieved if he had the opportunity to spend the eleventh night at the grave of the oppressed Imam (‘a). Signs of disappointment and depression as well as grief will have painted their marks on his face upon witnessing such a tremendous calamity.

He would have heard the moaning and groaning, the sighs and cries of those whom al-Husayn (‘a) had left behind. He would have closely witnessed the corpses of the Progeny of Muhammad (‘a), who had sacrificed themselves for Islam, lying on the ground drenched in their blood as the wind blew upon them in that wilderness: parts cut off by the spears, from whose blood swords drank, and whatever was left was crushed under the horses' hooves...

Whoever had the chance to come close to the ladies, who grew up in the home of revelation, would find them shedding their tears on those sacred corpses. The women were crying, sobbing, beating their chests, their hair protruding on their faces [^1]. He would then console them with his own incessant tears, with his loud cries and generous grief.

It goes without saying that such a grief is related to the truthful one, Fatima al-Zahra’ (‘a), to consoling her, and to fulfilling the wish of the Imams of Guidance, peace be upon them, according to many traditions reported in all such circumstances. There are traditions from which one may derive such a conclusion if he only contemplates upon them.

For example, there is a tradition reported by Malik al-Juhni who quotes Imam [al-Baqir] Abu Ja’far [as-Sadiq] (‘a) saying, “Whoever visits al-Husayn's grave on ‘Ashura and remains there mourning will meet Allah on the Day of Judgment receiving the rewards due to two million performances of the Hajj and two million performances of the ‘umra and two million campaigns in the company of the Messenger of Allah and the Guided Imams.”[^2] Scholars of Arabic who examined the original text of this statement conclude that all such rewards are due to one who remains there all day long till the night even if he does not spend the night there.

But Jabir al-Ju’fi's tradition, wherein he quotes Abu ‘Abdullah [Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq] (‘a), sheds a light that may help understand it better.