On hearing of a traveller's arrival from Kufa...

On hearing of a traveller's arrival from Kufa, Safiya urges her husband Abdulla Omar to meet with him to get any news of Mukhtar; Kumayl introduces himself to Abdulla Omar and produces the two letters from Mukhtar; on reading the letter, Safiya is distressed and asks for details directly from Kumayl and he relates the miserable condition of Mukhtar and how Mukhtar hopes for imminent release to avenge Imam Husein's (as) killers.

Due to her sorrow and distress, Safiya gets hysterical and shaves some of her head hair (as custom at the time to indicate deep grief); her daughters also do the same on seeing their mother's grief; Safiya asks her husband Abdulla Omar to write a letter to Yazeed in Damascus to decree the release of Mukhtar; Abdulla Omar agrees, and Kumayl volunteers to travel immediately to Damascus and hand deliver the letter to Yazeed.

Abdulla Omar gives Kumayl the letter and a wallet containing Safiya's lock of hair as evidence of his wife's grief; the letter says: release Mukhtar in Kufa, or Abdulla Omar will use his influence to destabilise the government of Yazeed in all areas, which Abdulla Omar was capable of doing. Previous…