This event is one of those rare occurrences which make men...

This event is one of those rare occurrences which make men shed tears involuntarily.” She then says, “When these tragic events came to pass, history stopped at Karbala and Najaf because people migrated to settle in these two cities with the intention of renouncing Yazid and washing their hands of the enemies of al-Husayn, the oppressed.”[^2] Proffessor Edward Granville Browne (1862-1926) The famous orientalist Edward Browne, professor of Arabic and oriental studies at the University of Cambridge, recounts the appalling events which befell Imam al-Husayn (as) at Karbala in this way, “… a reminder of the blood-stained field of Karbala, where the grandson of the Apostle of God fell at length, tortured by thirst and surrounded by the bodies of his murdered kinsmen, has been at anytime since then sufficient to evoke, even in the most lukewarm and heedless, the deepest emotions, the most frantic grief, and an exaltation of spirit before which pain, danger and death shrink to unconsidered trifles.”[^3] He also says, “Is it possible to find a person who hears about the event of Karbala and is at the same time not overwhelmed by sorrow and grief?

Even non-Muslims cannot refute the purity of spirit and morality which accompanied this Islamic holy war.”[^4] Charles Dickens This English Writer says this about the uprising of ‘Ashura, “If al-Husayn fought to quench his worldly desires, then I do not understand why his sisters, wives and children accompanied him.

It stands to reason therefore that he sacrificed purely for Islam.”[^5] Thomas Masaryk While comparing Imam al-Husayn (as) with Prophet Jesus (as), Thomas Masaryk says, “The sufferings of Jesus Christ, when compared to the sufferings of al-Husayn, are like feathers made out of straw in the face of a huge mountain.”[^6] Justice A. Russell This English poet describes the sorrowful event of ‘Ashura in this way: “… they hit the blessed mouth of Imam al-Husayn (as) with their wooden sticks.

O holy body that has been crushed under hooves! You are that same body which used to charm every person who cast a glance at you. Blood that has been shed from your blessed veins and has dried is a heavenly mixture which no horse hoof has ever had the opportunity to be painted with such a holy mixture (or color) up to now. O bare and barren earth of Karbala! There is neither grass nor herbs growing on you!