All the Imams of Guidance were likewise tearful, wailing and weeping.

All the Imams of Guidance were likewise tearful, wailing and weeping. There is no exaggeration here at all. The Martyr had in him the fragrance of the Message, the glow of the caliphate, and the wreath of the Imamate. He is none other than the grandson of the Chosen Prophet (S), the son of Fatima al-Zahra’ (‘a), the chosen wasi, and the brother of the other grandson of the Prophet (S), the Hujjah against the creation.

Yes, he is the treasured Sign, the joined mercy, the safeguarded trust, and the gate wherewith people are tried. His tragedy is no less worthy of such tears or condolences. Had the hearts been split into bits and pieces, and had those grieved died grieving over such a great calamity, it would still have been less than it deserves. Do you see life being worthy of anything so long as the very essence of life is he himself, the living and the pure essence?

What is the value of tears shed as long as Allah's “Vengeance on Earth” is thus bereaved? Should the eye be cooled as it sees the victims from Muhammad's family slaughtered on the ground, their parts cut off, their bodies cut to pieces by the swords, lances having feasted on them, and arrows having pierced them? They were spent thirsty on the bank of the flowing Euphrates wherein the dogs wade and from which wild beasts drink while the family of Muhammad (S) was prohibited from drinking of it.

The greatest calamity is that Upon the chest of the Prophet's son al-Shimr sat. May his hands be paralyzed: How he with his sword severed his head! What a youth Umayyah's steeds trampled upon His corpse charging, racing, crushing, on and on!

So my heart for him does go How the steeds' hooves drenched in his blood.[^2] What a true follower, who emulates the great Prophet (S), ought to do is to cry as this great Prophet (S) did for the mere mentioning of his name and the remembrance of his tragedy[^3], to hold mourning ceremonies commemorating the martyrdom of the Master of Martyrs, and to require everyone in his house to mourn him.

And let them console one another on account of what happened to al-Husayn (‘a) just as Imam al-Baqir (‘a) has said, “May Allah increase our rewards and yours for mourning al-Husayn (‘a), and may He count us and your own selves among those who seek revenge for him in the company of His wali, al-Mahdi (‘a), from the Progeny of Muhammad, peace be upon them.”[^4] ‘Abdullah Ibn Sinan came once to visit Imam as-Sadiq (‘a) on ‘Ashura.