One who grieves for him shall never find a redress from his grief...

One who grieves for him shall never find a redress from his grief, and the pain of disappointment can never subside due to the multitude of tragedies that befell him and to his being receptive to them with patience that drew the admiration of the angels in the heavens. The first reaction to the listener, who is moved by such tragedies, is that he weeps over them; so, whenever he remembers al-Husayn (‘a), his tears flow.

Add to this the love for him in the hearts of those who love him: if you add this to that loyalty, it will better underscore the relationship between remembering him and mourning him. It is from this juncture that killing is associated with him, hence his statement, “I am the one killed and for whose killing tears are shed.” This has been the custom of the Arabs in their speech.

Whenever they see a very strong link between somebody and one of his conditions, characteristics, etc., they add his name to it. They, for example, use expressions such as “Mudar al-Hamra’,” “Rabi’ah al-Khayl,” “Zayd al-Nar,” “children of the fire,” “...husband poisoning,” and so on. Rabi’ah and Mudar did not leave out any good attribute with which they could adorn themselves except bearing the standard of war and providing horses for the battle.

Zayd son of Imam Musa Ibn Ja’far (‘a) was not known as having done anything outstanding, be it good or bad, other than burning the houses of the ‘Abbasides in Basra. Nor did the children of Abu Mu’it earn any human attribute to identify them except their being the children of the fire [of hell] which the Messenger of Allah (S) added to their name when he ordered their father, ‘Utbah Ibn Abu Mu’it, an unbeliever, to be killed; it was then that he asked the Prophet (S), “O Muhammad!

Who will take care of my children?” “The fire,” answered the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and his progeny. Nor was Ju’da daughter of al-Ash’ath known by any vice more than the poison which she administered to Abu Muhammad, Imam al-Hasan (‘a), grandson of the Prophet (S).

But since these results are common knowledge among people, the name of the tribe of Mudar came to be associated with “al-Hamra’,” the blood-red battle, whereas the war horses are added to Rabi’ah, the fire that burned the ‘Abbasides was associated with Zayd's name, and Ju’da came to be associated with husband poisoning.