In addition they had his permission to take any of the folk...

In addition they had his permission to take any of the folk ofhis household with them if they so desired. Abbas, in his response, said that they would never abandon him. Then the Imam(a) gave his permission for his cousins-the children of Muslim ibn-Aqil to leave the camp, their father had been martyred in the course of the events leading up to Karbala and his martyrdom would have been a sufficient enough contribution for them.

But in reply they thanked their uncle and said that they would stand by him no matter what would befall them. Like the men from the tribe of Bani Hashim, other companions of Imam Husayn(a) including Muslim ibn-'Awsaja, Zuhayr and Ibn Bashir Hadrami, all said that they would stand firm by the side oftheir exalted leader and valiantly meet their fate. It would be a great honour they said to lie among the fallen at the side of the beloved of the Prophet(s).

Qasim, the nephew of the Imam(a) asked his uncle whether he would be among the fallen. The Imam(a) replied that he would be killed as well as his own infant Abdullah. Qasim shuddered, at the thought of such a terrible thing, that their enemies could be so cruel and fiendish that they would not spare the lives even of a helpless infant. Good versus Evil In Karbala, two groups were arrayed in opposition to each other.

One group was the symbol of truth, honour, magnanimity, faith, virtue, honesty, worship and devotion, in other words, representatives of the Absolute Good, objective proofs of the Scripture and of sacred knowledge. Salman Farsi was one of the most notable companions of the (s). So high was his status that the Prophet(s) is reported to have said that God had ordered him to love four persons: 'All ibn-Abitalib, Miqdad ibn-Aswad, Abudar Ghaffari and Salman al-Farsi. (Kashi, Rijal p. 24).

Hadrat Ali(a) said that Salman was the gateway to truth in the earth, those who acknowledged his sublime position were believers and those who denied it were disbelievers. (kashi, Rijal p.20) Fadl ibn-Shadhan, the renowned author, said that no one was comparable to Salman in knowledge and insight. The Prophet(s) and Imam Baqir(a) knew him to be a member of the Household of the Prophet(s) and Hadrat Sadiq(a) said that Salman had known the Greatest Name (The secret great name of God).

(Kashi, Rijal p. 18, 22).