Mukhtar a Biograghy

Chapter 14 - The Tawwabun's Mission Now, when the Tawwabun could not find Ubaydallah Ziyad personally with the Umar Jaru's group, Sulayman Surad Khuzai and his group of about four and a half thousand return to Kufa, where he recruits more men to a total of about sixteen thousand.

On 1 Muharram 65 AH, the Tawwabun under Sulayman Surad Khuzai camp at Nukhaila, just out of the Kufaboundary; Sulayman sees that of the sixteen thousand recruited, only about three thousand are actually present; he goes back into Kufa with the message of "Ya ala siratil Hussein" and manages to rally another one and half thousand volunteers, making a total force of about four and a half thousand men.

Before setting off in earnest to hunt down Ubaydallah Ziyad, the Tawwabun go to Kerbala where they spend a whole day and night in lamentations and Ziyarat; as the Tawwabun leave Kerbala for Damascus, Ubaydallah Ziyad leaves Damascus for Kufa.

The Tawwabun reach Qarqisiya at night, where Zufar Haris (who ran away from the purge of Ubaydallah Ziyad in Damascus) is now the ruler of Qarqisiya; Sulayman sends his deputy Mosayab Najaba to tell Zufar that they have not come to invade Qarqisiya, but are on their way to find Ubaydallah Ziyad; Zufar is happy that Ubaydallah Ziyad is being hunted down and orders the shopkeepers to open at night and stock up the Tawwabun free of charge.

Ubaydallah Ziyad's group is 300,000 strong total, including an advance party of 100,000; the Tawwabun are 4,500 men.

The two groups meet at Ayn al-Warda where the battle occurs.

The first round of battle lasts for two days between the Tawwabun and the advance party of Ubaydallah Ziyad.

The second round of battle between the Tawwabun and the whole of Ubaydallah Ziyad’s army lasts for seven days.

In Sulayman's group of the remaining 75 men, are the five commanders who are to take up the position of Chief Commander in the case of the previous commander's death: Sulayman Surad Khuzai, Mosayab Najaba, Abdulla Saad, Abdulla Walin, Rufa' Shadad.

On the last night of the battle, some of the Tawwabun say that they should retreat considering their small number of men who are extremely fatigued, wounded and thirsty (for the water supply is guarded by Ubaydallah Ziyad's soldiers), compared against the remaining well equipped army of 150,000 men; Sulayman says the aim is to avenge Imam Husein's (as) killers and if that is not possible, then it is better to die in battle for the mission rather than retreat.

After prayers, during the night, Sulayman Surad Khuzai nods off and dreams: he is in a pretty and most beautiful gardens full of flowers and tree, and a golden house is in the middle; a lady in Chaddar comes out of the palace; Lady Khadija, conveys Salaams from the Panjatan and Imam Husein's (as) congratulations to the Tawwabun for their work so far, and informs Sulayman of his martyrdom the next day; Lady Khadija takes a pot of water and gives it to Sulayman to sprinkle on all their wounds for the battle the next day.

Sulayman wakes up and sees the pot of water next to him, and offers prayers of thanks; he sprinkles the water on the wounds of the remaining Tawwabun, who are asleep; the heavenly water completely heals all the wounds and removes all fatigue; the water pot disappears when Sulayman is in prayers; when the rest of the group wake up, Sulayman informs them of the miracle.

Next day, the Tawwabun put up a resilient fight against the 150,000 soldiers of Ubaydallah Ziyad who expected a very feeble resistance; Sulayman is killed at about noon; Mosayab Najaba takes charge and he is also killed; Abdulla Saad then takes charge and he is also killed; next, Abdulla Walin takes charge and he is killed; finally, Rufa' Shadad takes charge and with the 10 remaining Tawwabun, they retreat to Kufa to try and regroup.

On winning the second round of battle, and having decisively crushed the Tawwabun, Ubaydallah Ziyad goes to Basra.