INTRODUCTION :
TRAGEDY OF AL-ZAHRA’ (A.S.). DOUBTS CAST AND REBUTTALS
Poetry is a Reliable Historical Chronicle :
The poets throughout history have thoroughly covered what al-Zahra’ (A.S.) underwent of oppression, persecution, beating and miscarriage since the first generations and till our time. They make their poetry target those who participated in all of that or did not stop it. Some of them were contemporary to the Imams (A.S.), or their time was close to that of the Imam’s.
This is regarded as a reliable and strong historical record. Its strength underscores the fact that its contexts were true as it was transmitted by traditionists and historians. Here we would like to cite a bouquet of such poetry in successive centuries and till our time:
1. Sayyid al-Himyari (d. 173 A.H.)
Sayyid al-Himyari, may Allah have mercy on him, was contemporary to Imams al-Sadiq (A.S.) and al-Kazim (A.S.) and he says the following:
Beaten, she was, and of her rights deprived,
And was made to taste after his demise of wounds.
God sever the hands that her did they hit,
And of that who agreed thereto and followed suit.
God may never forgive him nor
Spare him of the horror of leaving the grave.[1]
2. Al-Barqi (d. 245 A.H.)
Al-Barqi, namely `Abdullah ibn `Ammar, has said,
They gathered the firewood at the house,
And those who ignited it kept taunting,
While nobody at the house except
The Purified Lady, the Truthful one,
And the Prophet’s two grandsons.[2]
3. Al-Nu`man, the Judge (d. 363 A.H.)
Judge al-Nu`man, an Isma`alite, composed a poem about what happened following the demise of the Messenger of Allah (A.S.) in one inclusive poem wherein he says,
Both swore fealty to him and said:
The best, you are, of everyone in state!
Among them were people of those at Badr slain,
And at others, people of confined grudge, plain.
They swore fealty, the heads of their folks,
So people swore, too, on that day
Except a few who recognized the way
Of their Prophet, so they kept away.
To Ali, their Imam, they went;
Said he: Your effort is already spent!
They said: No We shall do it for sure!
So he said: Set out now and your heads shave
So people will know you then come in a wave
To me so we may fight, God will make a way
For us to judge, and we will see what He does say.
The failed when they saw him determined,
So those who went to him counted only seven,
While fealty was sworn by all the rest
Who thought swearing it was the best.
I did call them by their very names.
He said: I shall not fight you for sure
For few you are and cannot meet the rest
So they sat to see what he would do
With them and what order to issue.
`Omer came to them with a group
Seeing the man they installed is not obeyed
Till they reached the door of Fatima (A.S.)
The Batal lady who boycotted them.
She intercepted between him and them
Hoping they would not reach her man
But he broke the door, the first of them
And they forced their way through her veil
As she did cry, ask for help and wail.
They hit her, so she did miscarry
Al-Zubayr heard the call and went in a hurry
But stumbled, his sword was taken
And was surely by them broken
So they caught al-Zubayr and he
In their hands a captive came to be.
The wasi came out with the rest of the men
Seeing their defenses were totally in vain.
They overpowered them and brought them to `Ateeq.
He goes on to say:
What a sigh in my heart
Like fire I feel in my mind.
Their killing al-Zahra Fatima
Ignited in my insides the fire
For it is known among the people
She died after having miscarried
She ordered to be at night buried
And her grave’s marks obliterated
So nobody knows where she is buried.
So that only her cousin would be there
And his family, and in distress she did disappear.
Her Lord greets her, with her nations she was displeased.
They swore fealty to him against their wish
As taqiyya. Alas! God for His servants did allow
Not to be forced to make for the ruler an untrue vow.
Till he says,
It is narrated for sure
That he said when he came:
Swear it! Said he: I shall not!
He said: Then I shall have you killed!
May Allah testify that he was weak
When he swore fealty to the usurper
Fearing being killed, and others swore too
For fear of those who were there.
If they made the Trusted One so weak
Before him Aaron was treated the same
By the nation of Moses when they
Wanted otherwise to have him killed
Treading the same steps indeed
The steps the wasis had to tread
Just as the sent Messenger said.
4. Mihyar al-Daylani (d. 428 A.H.)
The brilliant poet, Mihyar al-Daylami, may Allah have mercy on his soul, has said the following lines in a poem he wrote:
How come it was not severed
The hand that stretched to harm you?
That of the son of one inferior to you?
They were elated when they insulted you,
Being wrongful to your own father (A.S.).
5. Ali ibn al-Muqarrab (d. 629 A.H.)
Prince Ali ibn Muqarrab, of al-Ahsa’, one of the wise and well known men of letters, has said:
I wonder which one of them shall I mourn
And for whom shall my tears overflow?
To the wasi when, at his mosque, he was crowned
By the sword before bowing down?
Or to the Batal, Fatima, who was deprived
Of her inheritance, rightfully hers according to all
And according to one who to her said:
You sought wrong, so desist
Your father loudly declared before many:
We, prophets, leave for our sons nothing to inherit.
What we leave is for each and all.
So be pleased with what your father said.
She said: Give me what my father left me
The best of all people, the one with intercession.
But they regarded their witness void
And the text of the Book did not convince them.
She remained oppressed, persecuted, when her claim
Was rejected, when her ribs were crushed.
Or should I mourn the one who had to drink
From their Ju`da the cup of disguised poison?[3]
6. Al-Khala`i (d. 750 A.H.)
Shaikh Ali (A.S.) ibn `Abd al-`Azaz al-Khala`i al-Hilli said the following among other verses in one of his poems:
O Lord of the one who was disputed about
What her father left her of inheritance and who
Was sought by those of grudge and hatred
And who made anyone drink the cup of grief
To a father because of her son
Like the son of Marjana, the accursed one
Who made me of it drink
And who before called a liar
Someone by the Lord from sins purified
And is there another son of a Prophet
For whom fire was lit
As those who circled my home to burn me?[4]This is an article taken from the book -
TRAGEDY OF AL-ZAHRA’ (A.S.). DOUBTS CAST AND REBUTTALS
By: Ayatullah `Allama Sayyid Ja’far Murtada al-`Amili
Translated from the Arabic By: Yasin T. al-Jibouri
Published By: Imam Hussain Foundation
READ THIS BOOK ONLINE HERE
[1]Al-Sirat al-Mustaqim, Vol. 3, p. 13.
[2]Ibid.
[3]Adab al-Taff, Vol. 4, p. 32 from Ithbat al-Hudat.
[4]Al-Turayhi, Al-Muntakhab, p. 161.
