A night to fly over toward the beloved
Hazrate Abolfazl as-Abbas’ life
A warrior ran from the top of the hills towards the battlefield. He was ready and very much eager to fight; but he controlled himself, and pulled the bridle of his horse. There was a lot of dust from both the troops after their gathering; all the soldiers were silent; suddenly a young warrior appeared and cried out loud:” I am the eldest son of the greatest warrior of Cham: Ibn Abi Alshaab! But what about you? Do introduce yourself! I want to know the name of the man that I shall kill very soon!” “It is not important. All you have to do is fight…”
The two combatants took out their swords. They cried out loud to spring their horses forward, and they passed each other very swiftly. There was a lot of dust everywhere. Everybody could just hear the clash of irons.
After a few minutes, dust spread away, and the warrior who had put on a veil on his face, was still seated on his horse, very much in command, while his sword was trembling in his hand, which was bloody…
On other hand, there was a disheveled horse that was running towards Mu’awiyah’s troops, and it also carried a corpse which was bloody, cut into parts on the battlefield, during that terrible fight...
Suddenly the loud cry of “Allaho Akbar” was heard among the men of Ali’s troop. The young warrior trotted around the battlefield and cried out:” Send another combatant to me…!”
He had just finished his words, when another warrior angrily came up to him and said:” Now I will revenge the blood of my brother that you shed…! “
The young warrior sheathed his sword and took his spear. Once again, the air around them changed and everywhere became the sound of smashing the irons was heard; after a few minutes one of them painfully yelled:”Ah…!”
And a bloody horse with an upturned saddle escaped from between Mu’awiyah ‘s troop…
Once again, the sound of “Allaho Akbar! “ was raised among Ali’s soldiers. And the young man continued his trotting
***
When finally the seventh warrior was cut into bloody pieces by the violent blows of the young man’s sword, an angry and harsh outcry filled the air of the battlefield:” You are very bold and brave! You burned my heart and soul, by killing all of my seven sons, and now I will burn your father’s heart, by slaughtering you into little pieces…!”
The old warrior attacked the young man with his naked blade. Soldiers around were just able to hear the voice of the clashing of the swords and the shields because of the dust around them.
Suddenly a loud cry shocked both troops:” Oh…!”
And once again, a horse with a reversed saddle ran towards Mu’awiyah men. When the dusts spread away, all the soldiers saw the corpses of the old soldier. It was cut into pieces, while the young man was steadfast on his horse, and his naked blade was bloody.
All the soldiers in the Ali’s side were happy, and cried out loud three times: “ Allaho Akbar! Allaho Akbar! Allaho Abar…! “
A familiar voice was heard from the troop which was on the right side. This was Ali’s voice, telling:” My son! Come to me. It’s enough. I fear the bad omen, may strike you…”
The young man took out his veil; everybody was now gazing on his face. He was full of sweat, and he had two beautiful black eyes. But he was not yet an adult to have grown a beard on his face. It seemed that he wasn’t more than fourteen or fifteen years old. His face was truly magnificent and handsome as the moon in the sky! Aye…! He was verily the “Moon of the Bani Hashim tribe”! His name was Abbas, known as “Abolfazl “…!
*** ***
The heavy shade of the night was everywhere in that desert, and the moon of the tenth night was looking down on the tents; there was a tender, cool breeze, which encouraged the flags to move swiftly; horses and camels were snoozing while many soldiers were guarding the camp and standing in their posts. Around the tents, were flames here and there; on the other side, in the enemy camp, there were a lot of sounds, such as the loud laughter of drunken men, with all kinds of musical instruments and the tender sound of the waves of the Euphrates.
On the other hand, there was another kind of sounds, such as the cries of the babies, children who were asking for some water and mothers who were trying to make them sleep, and soothe them with tender lullabies…
Between the tents, there was a great tent which was made by the wool of the camels; inside of it, there were hundred warriors, and they were listening to Imam Hussein’s (peace be upon him) words… Perhaps they were not breathing so as to be able to concentrate their minds over what their beloved lord, Imam Hussein had to say.
There was a small, white tent, which belonged to the ill son of Imam Hussein: Imam Zeinol Abedin who had a strong fever, and thirst was bothering him terribly during the hardest time of his illness. His sweet aunt, Hazrate Zeynab (Peace be upon her) was trying to do her best for her brother’s son. She touched gently his forehead once in a while, and fanned his beloved nephew with motherly care. Suddenly, both of them heard the voice of their lord, Imam Hussein.
He was saying to his followers:” These men want only me and my family, not you! If anyone stays with me, tomorrow would be the last day of his life and he shall die as a brave man…
On the other hand, if anyone continues his journey and escapes to a safe place, he will continue his life, and no one will do him any harm.
So, I am taking away my allegiance from all of you, o my true followers…! My dearest friends and companions! You are free to go away! There are some camels and horses, you can use them to escape from here and any one of you who wishes to put an end to his loyalty here, can go with the help of the obscure night, and he can also help one of my family members, and take him [ or her ] to another place…”
Everybody was looking one another… A kind of tumult was raised and everyone was whispering something to the ear of his companion; some of the soldiers of Imam Hussein, stood up in silence and chose the earthly life rather than their Salvation;
so they ran away; after a while, Imam Hussein and his small group heard the sounds of the horses’ hooves, while they were going farther away from them… After a moment, a heavy silence fell once again… Now, only seventy two men had remained to serve their beloved lord and master with loyalty and love…
***
Sakineh, [Imam Hussein’s daughter] was witnessing all this… She saw a little group of indifferent, fearful men, who departed in the stillness of the night…
She started to cry and went to embrace her aunt Zainab and said painfully: “My aunt!? Did you witness their treason?! They let my beloved father among thirty thousand devilish men! How could they…?! They kept their lives, rather than be side by side with my Father…!
Did you hear my father’s words: tomorrow, he and everyone else with him shall attain Martyrdom…? Woe to them! Woe!”
Imam Sajjad and his aunt Zainab embraced each other then, and continued their silent crying. Their ardent tears were dropping on their tired faces; Imam Sajjad tried to stand up and walk, so he raised his left hand and said:” My aunt! My sister! Stay calm… Don’t cry! Submit yourselves to God’s Will and Providence! From now on, you will have to cry for a very long time to come…”
Beside Imam Hussein, Abolfazl stood up and with a clear, harmonious voice said:” My beloved lord! What have you just said?! Going away to preserve our life?! And continue it without you?! While surrounding you to our heretical enemies who do not believe in anything?! How can we do such a thing?! Definitely no! Woe to that sinister day, if we were to do something like that…! “
***
Everyone was doing something. Some men were reading The Holy Quran with a loud, beautiful voice; some others were praying to their God; another group of men were crying and talking with their Creator; while their hands were raised up towards the sky, and from some tents there came the pitiful cries of thirsty children… They wanted to drink some water, but there wasn’t anything for them to drink on that hot, arid desert…
***
Abdollah, Jafar and Osman were the brothers of Abolfazl from the same mother [later known as “Ommol Banine “because of her four brave, handsome sons ]; they were bending their knees in front of their eldest brother, Imam Hussein, showing him their complete loyalty to him.
A tender moonlight was caressing Abolfazl’s face, from the outside of the tent. He said to his brothers:” My dear brothers: Abdollah, Jaffar, and you Osman! I have called you here to tell you: it is true that we are also the children of the Lord of the believers, Hazrate Ali Ibn Abi Talib, but Hussein is our present lord and master, the grandson of our venerable Prophet (peace be upon him) and the most important thing is, that he is the beloved son of Hazrate Fatima Zahra (peace be upon her)…!
We are the brothers of Hussein, even if we do not have the same mother! The Ansars are still strangers… So it is our responsibility to help and defend our lord and serve him until our very last breath! It will be shameful for us to stop helping him and seeing the Ansars come to assist him in this perilous moment! We should sacrifice our life gladly for the child of Zahra, before anyone else…”
All his three brothers, at the same time showed their acceptance and submission to their elder, illustrious brother, Abolfazl, and bowed their heads in complete respect and silence.
“Yes, dear brother! We will obey your command until our last breath! “
All of them came out of the tent. On that moment, they heard the sound of some horsemen who were coming towards them; they wanted to go to the Imam Hussein’s tent. One of the guardians said to Imam Hussein:
” Some horsemen are coming in this direction my lord! “.....
Other links:
The Banner Holder of Neynava, Hazrate Abolfazl al-Abbas
The short life History of Hadhrat Abbas (as)
The short biography of Sayyeda Hazrat Zainab (s.a)
The young companions of Imam Hossain
