You deserve most to be burnt therein!

You deserve most to be burnt therein!’ So Muslim bin ‘Awsajah said to him: ‘O son of the Messenger of Allah! May I be your ransom, should I not shoot him with an arrow? He is within my range and I never miss the target. This vicious man is one of the great tyrants.’ [But] al-Husayn (as) said to him: ‘Do not shoot at him, for I dislike to begin [fighting] against them.”[^6] The First Speech of the Imam (as) When the enemy had neared him, he [called] for his mount and mounted it.

He then called out at he top of his voice which was heard by most of the people [and said]: “O people! Listen to my words and do not hurry [to attack me] so that I may remind you of the duties you have towards me, so that I may free myself from any blame for coming to you. If you accept my excuse, believe in what I say and give me justice, you will become happier through that and you will have no reason to fight against me.

[But] if you do not accept my excuse and do not give me justice of your own accord, ‘So conspire together, along with your partners, leaving nothing vague in your plan, then carry it out against me without giving me any respite.’[^7] ‘My guardian is indeed Allah who sent down the Book, and He takes care of the righteous.’”[^8] When his sisters heard what he said, they screamed and lamented. His daughters also [began] weeping and their voices rose.

So [al-Husayn (as)] sent to them his brother, ‘Abbas bin ‘Ali, and his son, ‘Ali, and told them: “Make them silent. For by my life, they are going to weep even more.” When the women became quite, he praised Allah and extolled Him and mentioned what He is entitled to. He called for blessings on Muhammad (S) and on the angels and the prophets.

[Here the reporter says:] “By Allah, I have never heard a speaker before or after him more eloquent in his speech than he was.” He then said: “Trace back my lineage and consider who I am?! Then look back at yourselves and remonstrate with yourselves. Then consider whether it is right for you to kill me and to violate my sanctity.

Am I not the son of the daughter of your Prophet, and the son of his successor and cousin, the first of the believers in Allah and the one who believed [first] in what the Messenger brought from his Lord? Was not Hamzah, the lord of the martyrs, the uncle of my father?! Was not Ja’far, the martyr, the one who flies [in Heaven] and the one with two wings, my uncle?!