He said: “Woe unto me because of you, O Hijr!

He said: “Woe unto me because of you, O Hijr!” And he said: “(I will face) a long day (because of) Ibn al-Addbar (Hijr).” He said that three times.[^1] Yes, Mu’awiya will face a long day (before Allah) because of his killing Hijr and the like of Hijr from among the righteous believers whose blood he shed because of nothing except their love for . With this we end our speech about the murder of Hijr and his companions, that we may meet his other companions.

Rasheed al-Hijri Rasheed al-Hijri is regarded as on top of the men of Islam in piety, fear of Allah, knowledge, and excellence. He was a pupil in the school of Imam Ali (a.s). He acquired a great deal of his knowledge and sciences. Imam Ali (a.s) named him Rasheed al-Balaya (Rasheed of the tribulations).

Rasheed’s daughter, Qanu, narrated: “I heard my father say: ‘(Imam Ali), the Commander of the faithful, said to me: ‘O Rasheed, how will your endurance be when the bastard of the Umayyads (Ziyad) will send for you and cut off your hands, your feet, and your tongue?’ ‘O Commander of the faithful, will (I go to the) Garden at the end of that?’ asked Rasheed. ‘O Rasheed, you are with me in this world and the next world,’ retorted Imam Ali.” Rasheed went with Imam Ali (a.s), to a garden.

They sat in the shadow of a date palm. The owner of the garden ascended a date palm. He took some dates from the date palm and offered them to Imam Ali (a.s). The Imam ate some of them. Rasheed turned to the Imam and said to him: “How delicious these dates are!” “You will be crucified on its trunk,” said the Imam. After this speech Rasheed took care of the date palm of whose dates he ate. He gave it water and served Allah beside it.

One day he passed by it and saw that its leaves had been cut off, so he felt that his appointed time was close at hand. He passed by it again and saw that a half of it was put over a small river, that the people might sit on it and take water. He was sure that his inevitable appointed time approached.[^2] During that terrible period of time, (Ziyad), son of Sumayya, sent for him.

Rasheed stood before Ziyad, and he said to him: -What did your bosom friend (Imam Ali) say as to that we would do to you? -(He said that) you would cut off my hands and my feet, and that you would crucify me. [^1] Al-Tabari, Tarikh, vol. 6, p. 156. [^2] Al-Ta‘liqat ‘alaa Minhajj al-Maqal, p. 140. -By Allah, I will confute his statement. Set him free. The police set Rasheed free.