The Captivity Journey

The Speech of Imam Zein El-Abedeen (Q)

Yazeed gave his orders to bring a rostrum and a speaker to mention to the people the flaws of Imam Hussain (Q) and of his father Imam Ali (Q), so the speaker went up the podium and started by thanking Allah and praising Him, and he started to excessively slander Ali and Hussain (L), and exaggerated in praising Muawiya and Yazeed. So, Imam Zein El-Abedeen

Q yelled at him saying: "Woe to you O speaker, did you buy the approval of the creature with the exasperation of the Creator! Do await your place in Hell then". Then He (Q) said: "O Yazeed, allow me to climb up these sticks to say few words that would please God and grant these people good reward and compensation…"

Yazeed denied him that, but the people said: "O prince of believers, give him the permission to speak, maybe we can hear something good from him". So he told them: "if he goes up that rostrum, he shall never come down before humiliating me and the whole family of Abi Sufian…"

Then they said: "How much could this one know?!"

He said: "He is from a family that was fed the knowledge from birth…"

They kept arguing till he allowed him to speak, so he climbed the rostrum, thanked God and praised him then he delivered a speech that caused the eyes to cry and the hearts to be terrified, and that is what he said:

"O people, we were awarded six and distinguished by seven, we were awarded the knowledge, the tolerance, the indulgence, the eloquence, the courage, and the love in the hearts of the believers. And we are distinguished as one of us is the Chosen Prophet Muhammad (P), the Siddiq (Imam Ali), the Tayyar (Q) (meaning Jaafar Al-Tayyar), the lion of Allah and the lion of the Messenger of Allah (P), the Lady of all the women of the worlds Fatima Al-Batoul O, and from our family come the two grandsons of this nation and the two Masters of the youth in Heaven.

Who had met me he should know me, and for he who does not know me I shall inform him of my parentage and lineage. O people, I am the son of Mecca and Mena, I am the son of Zamzam and Safa, I am the son of who carried the Zakat within his clothes, I am the son of the best person who ever wore clothes, I am the son of the best person who wore shoes or walked barefooted, I am the son of the best person who performed Tawaf and Saei (duties of Hajj) I am the son of the best person to perform Hajj and answer the call of Allah, I am the son of the person who rode on Buraq (special horse) in space, I am the son of the one who travelled at night from the Sacred Mosque to the Aqsa Mosque, Praised be who made him travel, I am the son of he who travelled with Gabriel till he reached Sudrat Al-Montaha (special tree in the seventh heaven), I am the son of who approached and came close, and was at a distance of the length of two bows or even nearer, I am the son of who had led the prayer for the angels of the skies, I am the son of the person whom Al-Jaleel (The Exalted) had revealed to him the revelation, I am the son of Muhammad Al-Mustafa, I am the son of Ali Al-Murtada, I am the son of who fought the people till they admitted that there is no God but Allah (believed in God), I am the son of he who fought before the Messenger of Allah with two swords, stabbed with two spears, migrated two times, pledge allegiance in both times, prayed towards

the two Qiblah, fought in Bader and Honain, and did not ever disbelieve in God not even for a glance, I am the son of the best of believers, the heir of Prophets, the suppressor of infidels, the Chief of Muslims, the light of fighters (Mujahedeen), and the beauty of worshipers, the crown of the weepers (out of fear of Allah), the most patient of all, and the best one of the family of Yaseen, the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds, I am the son of who is assisted by Gabriel, and supported by Michael, I am the son of the defender of the Muslims’ sanctities, the killer of the promise breakers, the cheaters and the hypocrites, who strove against his eminent enemies, the best person ever to walk among all of Quraish people, the first believer to answer and respond to the call of Allah, the first of the first believers, the crusher of the aggressors, the demolisher of the polytheists, an arrow of the bows of Allah against the hypocrites, the speaker for the wisdom of the worshipers, the supporter for Allah’s religion, the guardian for Allah’s orders, the garden for Allah’s wisdom, the vantage point for Allah’s knowledge, pliable and generous, smiley, pure and the outgoing, pleasing and pleased by God, brave and courageous, patient who fasts during the days, polite who stays up late to pray, valiant and giving, the backs’ breaker, the parties divider, who has the bravest heart of all, who has the utmost self control of all, who does not speak too soon, with the strongest determination of all, the most powerful of all, a valiant lion, a torrential raining storm, who grinds his enemies in a close compact where swords and riding horses join together the way that a quern would grind the wheat, then he will toss them the way the wind would throw ashes in the air, the lion of Hijaz, the owner of miracles, the ram of Iraq, he is an Imam stated in the authentic text and by worthiness, from Mecca and Medina, from Bathaa and Tuham, from Khaifa and Aqaba, from Bader and Uhud, among the people of the Shajara (Tree treaty) and the migrants, among the Arab he is the leader and the lion of the battles, the heir of the poets, the father of the two grandsons Hassan and Hussain, the presenter of wonders, the splitter of troops, the shooting star, the dominant light, the victorious lion of God, the desideratum  of every seeker, and the predominant of every dominant, that is my grandfather, Ali Bin Abi Taleb.

I am the son of Fatima Al-Zahra, I am the son of the Lady of all women, I am the son of the pure Batoul,23 I am the son of the daughter of the Prophet, I am the son of Ali Al-Murtada, I am the son of Fatima Al-Zahra, I am the son of Khadija Al-Kubra, I am the son of the one who was unjustly murdered, I am the son of the one who is slaughtered from the back, I am the son of the one who was thirsty till he died, I am the son of the fallen in Karbala, I am the son of the one whose turban and clothes were plundered, I am the son of who was cried over by the angels of the skies, I am the son of who was wept for by the Jinn in the ground and the birds in the air, I am the son of whose head was given as a present on spears, I am the son of whose women were captivated and brought from Iraq to Sham, O people, indeed Allah the Almighty, and thank is to him, had tested us, Ahlu El-Bayt, with a good test by placing the banner of guidance, just and pious with us, and had placed the banner for deception and killing on others…"

Then people started to cry and weep loudly, which made Yazeed fear from sedition, so he ordered the muezzin to call for prayer, and to interrupt his speech and silence him.

When the muezzin said "God is Great" Ali Bin Al-Hussain (Q) said: "You glorified the Great God who could not be measured or realized with the senses, and no one is greater than Allah".

And when he said: "I testify that there is no God but Allah". The Imam (Q) said: "My hair, skin, flesh, blood, brain and bones all had testified that it is true".

When he said: "I testify that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah" the Imam (Q) turned to Yazeed and said: "O Yazeed, is this Muhammad my grandfather or yours? If you claim he is your grandfather, then you would have lied, and if you say he is my grandfather, so why did you kill his progeny?"

Then the Muezzin finished the call for prayer and Yazeed got up and performed the noon prayer.