Mukhtar a Biograghy

Chapter 4 - Kumayl Smuggles Pen and Paper to Mukhtar On his release, Kumayl is warned by Ubaydallah Ziyad not to repeat the crime of cursing Yazeed or his government; Kumayl promises to lead a quiet life and to teach no more at the madressa.

Kumayl thinks of a plan to smuggle pen and paper into the prison and realises that secrecy is of utmost importance should Ubaydallah Ziyad suspect anything; he explains the plan to his wife, who is also a staunch Shia, and she helps him (other sources say he divorces his wife so as to maintain complete secrecy of his movements).

The plan involves befriending the warden and at night he takes money and good food to the warden's home; the warden is on night duty, so Kumayl explains to the warden's wife that it was his vow to give such gifts to the warden upon being released; the wife accepts it and gives them to her husband in the morning; the warden immediately realises that Kumayl is seeking a favour.

Same thing happens on the second night; on the third night the warden is in; he questions Kumayl of his motive and does not believe the vow story; finally, the warden pleads on behalf of the Panjatan that if Kumayl somehow wants to help Mukhtar, the warden was willing; Kumayl is now at ease knowing that the warden has sympathy for Mukhtar, and tells the warden of his intention to smuggle pen and paper to Mukhtar.

The warden comes up with a plan:

he says that there are total of forty guards with him as the chief, but all the guards are chosen carefully, each having animosity to each other, so that there is no lax in security due to bribes, influence etc, and all guards report directly to Ubaydallah Ziyad.the warden advises Kumayl to prepare the best and delicious of food (as per the Arab custom at time), to buy fruits and almonds; in one fruit hide a pen in it; in another fruit hide some thin small paper; and in selected almonds, insert ink; these should be marked from others so the warden would know which should go to Mukhtar.

the warden tells Kumayl: come to the prison when I am on duty and tell of your vow to feed the prisoners on your release; I will get extremely angry at your gesture, and beat you up violently and harshly, so as to get the other guards take pity on you (who will then act against my apparent wish, for as always, we all oppose each other) as an old, feeble, honest Maalim with an apparent innocent vow to bring in good food.

when the other guards then permit you to send in the food, I will ensure Mukhtar gets the marked foods.

The next day, Kumayl prepares and goes to the prison where the scheme goes into action as planned; the warden warns his subordinates that Ubaydallah Ziyad may not like it, but they see no harm in letting the food through especially after the warden's beating to Kumayl.

The food gets into prison and Mukhtar gets the marked ones, which he hides successfully for Ubaydallah Ziyad arrives suddenly with about thirty personal guards (other sources say that Ubaydallah Ziyad arrives with the personal guards just before the food gets into the prison).

Ubaydallah Ziyad orders all the forty prison guards to be beaten up severely, after which the guards (including the warden who knew of the misdeed) ask as to the reason for Ubaydallah Ziyad's sudden arrival and punishment.

Ubaydallah Ziyad says he knows of the plot to smuggle pen and paper to Mukhtar, whereupon the warden, hoping for the best with prayers, challenges Ubaydallah Ziyad to find any pen/paper in the food; his personal guards perform a through search in all the foods but are unable to find any pen or paper, for Mukhtar had by then successfully hidden away the marked food (other sources say they did not think of looking into the fruits/almonds).

With the warden's prayers answered, and no trace of pen/paper found, he enquires of Ubaydallah Ziyad as to how he got the "false" information; Ubaydallah Ziyad says it was the warden's son who came to report of the plot (the son was eavesdropping on the conversation between Kumayl and his father, but did not overhear the last part about hiding the pen/paper/ink etc as the two were then whispering so as not to be overheard by passers-by going for the Fajr prayers).

The warden explains that the boy is not his real son, but adopted him from the streets where he was abandoned, and in trying to discipline the child, the child bore grudge against him and hence falsely reported and wasted Ubaydallah Ziyad time; Ubaydallah Ziyad gets very angry and orders the immediate execution of the boy.

Ubaydallah Ziyad and his personal guards go away, Kumayl goes home, and Mukhtar gets the pen/paper/ink.