ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Shi'ite Encyclopedia (chapter 5) Tragedy of Karbala As Reported By the Sunnis (part Iii) Martyrdom of Muslim Ibn Aqil That same morning the son of that old woman went to 'Abd al- Rahman b. Muhammad b. al-Ash'ath and told him about Muslim b. 'Aqil being with his mother. 'Abd al-Rahman went to his father who was with Ibn Ziyad. He went to him and Ibn Ziyad learned his secret. "Get up and bring him to me immediately," said Ibn Ziyad to (Muhammad b.

al-Ashath), poking a cane into his side. He sent (Amr b. ) Ubayd Allah b. Abbas al-Sulam, with him, together with seventy men from the tribal group of Qays. They went to the house where Muslim b. Aqil was. When the latter heard the beating of horses' hooves and the voices of men, he knew that it was him whom they had come for. He went out against them with his sword (drawn) as they rushed blindly towards the house.

He fell upon them and struck them with his sword so that he drove them away from the house. They repeated the attack, and Muslim counter-attacked in the same way. He and Bakr b. Humran al-Ahmari exchanged blows and Bakr struck Muslim's mouth, cutting his top lip and slicing down to the lower lip to knock out two of his teeth. Muslim struck him a terrible blow on the head and repeated it again, cutting a nerve along his shoulder with a blow which almost reached his stomach.

When the people saw that, they (went up and) looked down on him (Muslim) from the tops of the houses, and began to hurl stones at him and to light canes of wood with fire which they threw from the top of the house. When he saw that, he went out against them into the lane with his sword unsheathed. "You can have my guarantee of security," said Muhammad b.

al- Ashath, "don't kill yourself." But he continued to fight against them saying: I swear I will only be killed as a free man, although I see death as something horrible, Or it makes the cold a bitter heat and deflects the ray of the sun (for ever). Every man one day will meet an evil, I fear that I will be cheated and deluded. "You will not be cheated, deluded or deceived," replied Muhammad b. al-Ashath. "These people (i.e.

the Banu Umayya) are your cousins and they will not fight against you or strike you." He had been hurt by stones and weakened by the fighting. He was out of breath and he was propping his back up against the wall of that house. Ibn al-Ash'ath repeated the offer of security to him. "Am I granted security?" he said.