"Beware," he said, "you will carry (that standard).

"Beware," he said, "you will carry (that standard). Indeed you will carry it and you will enter from this gate." He pointed with his hand to the Gate of al-Fil. After the death of the Commander of the faithful, peace be on him,,. and al-Hasan, peace be on him, after that, and the events concerning al-Husayn and his revolt, Ibn Ziyad sent 'Umar b. Sa'd against al-Husayn, peace be upon him. He put Khalid b.'Arfata in command of the vanguard and he made Habib b. Himaz the standard-bearer.

He went there until he entered the mosque through the gate of al-Fil. This is also a widespread report which the traditionists (ahl al-'ilm) and the narrators of historical reports (athar) have not refused to acknowledge. It is widespread among the Kufans and well known in their circles. Not even two of them have denied it. It belongs to the class of miraculous (knowledge) which we have mentioned. *************** [Another example is the report of Zakariyya b.

Yahya al-Qattan, on the authority of Fadl b. al-Zubayr, on the authority of Abu al-Hakam, who said: I heard our shaykhs and our religious scholars say:] 'Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be on him, preached. In his sermon, he said: "Ask me before you lose me.

But, by God, do not ask me about a group who will lead a hundred astray and which will guide a hundred, otherwise I will tell you about the screecher of that group and the driver of it until the day of Resurrection." A man rose before him and said: "Tell me how many pieces of hair there are on my head and my beard?" The Commander of the faithful, peace be on him, said: "By God, my bosom friend, the Apostle of God, may God bless him and his family, told me about what you have asked.

For every piece of hair on your beard there is an angel who curses you and for every piece of hair on your beard there is a devil who provokes you. In your house there is a worthless (child) who will kill the (grand)son of the Apostle of God. That will be the proof of the truthfulness of what I have told you. If it was not for the fact that it is difficult to prove what you asked about, I would (simply) have informed you of it.

However the proof of (my answer to) that (question) lies in the information I have given about your curse and your cursed worthless (child)." At that time his son was a small boy still crawling. When the (tragic) events in the affair of al-Husayn, peace be on him, occurred, he took part in killing him. So the event occurred as the Commander of the faithful had described.