Z—His Martyrdom and the Extent of His Age (Peace be UponHim)

Da wu d ibn Kaysa n, from among the companions of Yu suf ibn ʿUmar,
shot him with an arrow, which struck his forehead. A physician was
summoned for him and informed him that if it were removed, he
would die immediately. He (Peace be Upon Him) said: “Death is easier
for me than what I am in.” So he (Peace be Upon Him) delivered his
covenant and made his bequest. Among his bequest to his son Yah ya
(Peace be Upon Him) was that he said: “My son, strive against them;
for by Allah, you are upon the truth and they are upon falsehood. Your
slain are in Paradise and their slain are in the Fire.” Then the arrow
was removed from him, and he passed away at once—peace from
Allah be upon him. That occurred on the eve of Friday, with five nights
remaining of Muh arram, in the year one hundred and twenty-two,
according to the soundest reports; and it is said: the year one hundred
and twenty-one, which is what al-ʿAqī qī mentioned. Al-Sayyid Abu T a
lib (Peace be Upon Him) related all of that.
When he (Peace be Upon Him) passed away, his companions differed
regarding his burial. Then they agreed to divert a river from its course,
dig a grave for him, bury him, and let the water flow over that place.
With them at that time was a Sindhi youth. When morning came, a
herald of Yu suf ibn ʿUmar proclaimed: “Whoever points out the grave
of Zayd ibn ʿAlī shall have such-and-such an amount of wealth.” That
youth pointed them to it. They extracted him (Peace be Upon Him)
from his grave, severed his head, sent it to Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik,
and crucified his body at al-Kana sah.
There appeared upon his crucified body signs of honor that indicate
the loftiness of his station with Allah—Exalted is He. Among them is
what was narrated: that a spider would weave over his nakedness by
night; and when morning came, they—may Allah curse them—would
tear its weaving with spears.
Among them is that a believing woman passed by and cast her veil
upon him; by the will of Allah—Exalted is He—it became fastened, so
they climbed up and untied it, whereupon his navel slackened until it
covered his nakedness. And a man passed by and pointed at him with
his finger, saying: “This is the immoral one, son of an immoral one,”
and his finger vanished into his palm.
Among them is what was narrated: that two white birds came; one
alighted upon one palace and the other upon another palace. One of
them said to the other:
Do you announce Zayd’s death, or shall I announce it?
The killer of Zayd—no salvation for him.
The other replied: Woe to him—he sold his Hereafter for his worldly
life.
It is also narrated that two men from Banu D abbah came, each
holding the hand of the other, until they stood opposite the plank of
Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon Them Both). One of them struck the
plank with his hand while saying: “The recompense of those who wage
war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon the earth with
corruption is that they be killed or crucified, or that their hands and
feet be cut off from opposite sides, or that they be exiled from the
land.” [Al-Maʾidah: 33] He then attempted to bend his hand,
whereupon it was consumed by gangrene; his side collapsed, and he
died—into the Fire.
When the head of Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon Them Both) was sent
to Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, he forwarded it to the City of the
Messenger (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace),
to Ibra hī m ibn Ha shim al-Makhzu mī . He erected the head. People of
Madī nah spoke to Ibra hī m and said: “Do not erect his head,” but he
refused. Madī nah resounded with weeping from the houses of Banu
Ha shim as on the day of al-H usayn (Peace
be Upon Him). When Kathī r ibn Kathī r ibn al-Mut t alib al-Sahmī
looked upon the head of Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon Him), he wept
and said: “May Allah illumine your face, O Abu al-H usayn, and deal
with your killer.” This reached Ibra hī m ibn Hisha m. The mother of al-
Mut t alib was Arwa bint al-H a rith ibn ʿAbd al-Mut t alib, and Kathī r
inclined greatly toward Banu Ha shim. Ibra hī m said to him: “It has
reached me from you such-and-such.” He replied: “It is as has reached
you.” So he imprisoned him and wrote to Hisha m. While imprisoned,
he said:
If a man’s faults be
His love for the Prophet—without sin,
And likewise the sons of Hasan, whose father
Was pure in wombs and loins;
They deem it a sin that I love you,
Yet your love is the expiation of sin.
Ibra hī m wrote concerning him to Hisha m, and Hisha m wrote back to
him: “Set him upon the pulpit and have him curse ʿAlī and Zayd; if hedoes so, then [leave him], otherwise strike him one hundred lashes
upon one hundred.” He ordered him to curse ʿAlī . He ascended the
pulpit and said:
May Allah curse the one who reviles ʿAlī
And his sons—whether commoner or leader.
Birds and doves feel secure, yet the family
Of the Prophet is not secure at the Station.
Blessed is your abode, and blessed your people—
The household of the Prophet and of Islam.
Welcome to the purified among mankind,
The people of lawful rites and consecration.
The mercy of Allah and peace be upon you,
Whenever one rises greeting with peace.
And we have narrated from ʿI sa ibn Sawa dah, who said: I was in Madī
nah at the grave, at the head of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and
his family and grant them peace), when the head of Zayd ibn ʿAlī
(Peace be Upon Them Both) was brought with a group of his
companions. It was erected at the rear of the mosque upon a spear,
and it was proclaimed among the people of Madī nah: “Protection is
disavowed from any man who has reached maturity and does not
attend the mosque.” So the people—strangers and others—were
herded. We remained for seven days. The governor, Muh ammad ibn
Hisha m al-Makhzu mī , would go out, and the preachers who stood by
the heads would rise and deliver sermons, cursing ʿAlī , al-H usayn,
Zayd, and their followers. When they finished, the tribes—Arabs and
non-Arabs—would rise; Banu ʿUthma n were the first to rise and
curse, then the clans of Quraysh, the Ans a r, and the rest of the people.
When the noon prayer was performed, they would depart, then return
the next day in the same manner—for seven days. A man from
Quraysh stood on one of those days; he was Muh ammad ibn S afwa nal-Jumah ī , the father of this judge, the judge of Abu Jaʿfar. Muh ammad
ibn Hisha m said to him: “Sit down.” He then rose again without being
called, so Muh ammad ibn Hisha m said to him: “Sit down.” He replied:
“This is a position not undertaken at every hour.” He said: “Then
speak.” He began his sermon, then proceeded to curse ʿAlī (Peace be
Upon Him) and his household, al-H usayn ibn ʿAlī , Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace
be Upon Them All), and those who loved them. While he was doing so,
he placed his hand upon his head and fell to the ground. I thought his
sermon had ended, and I did not know what had occurred until night
fell and the news spread: Allah—Exalted is He—had struck his head
with a headache so severe that he could not control it, until his
eyesight was taken from him at that very moment. There was a man
leaning against the grave who struck his hand toward me in alarm. I
said: “What did you see?” He said: “I saw the grave split open, and a
man came out of it wearing white garments. He faced the pulpit and
said: ‘You have lied—may Allah curse you.’” And from Shabī b ibn
Gharqad, who said: We arrived as pilgrims from Makkah and entered
al-Kana sah by night. When we were near the plank of Zayd ibn ʿAlī
(Peace be Upon Them Both), the night became illuminated for us. We
continued walking near his plank, and the fragrance of musk wafted to
us. I said to my companion: “Is this how the smell of the crucified is
found?” A voice called out to me, saying: “Thus is found the fragrance
of the children of the prophets—those who judge by the truth and act
justly by it.”
And we have narrated from H afs ibn ʿA s im al-Sulu lī , who said: Ah
mad ibn Isma ʿī l ibn al-Yasaʿ al-ʿA mirī narrated to us—he was in Da r
al-Luʾluʾ—he said: I saw ʿArzama h, the brother of Kana sah al-Asadī ,
and he was among the most handsome of men and the finest in
appearance. Every day he would go to al-Kana sah and sit by those
who guarded the plank of Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon Them Both).
There was there a gathering of the Asadī s. On his way he would pick
up seven small stones, then come and sit among the people, and say:
“Here—into his eye.” He would pelt Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon Him)
with those seven stones every day. Isma ʿī l ibn al-Yasaʿ said: By Himbesides whom there is no god, he did not die until I saw his eyes
swollen, as if they were two green glass bottles.
Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon Them Both) remained crucified upon the
plank for a year and some months; it is also said: days; and it is said:
two years. Al-Sayyid Abu T a lib (Peace be Upon Him) mentioned this.
And we have narrated through the route of al-Murshid bi-lla h (Peace
be Upon Him), raising it to his men, that he remained crucified until
the days of al-Walī d ibn Yazī d. When Yah ya ibn Zayd appeared, al-
Walī d wrote to Yu suf: “To proceed: when this letter of mine reaches
you, look to the hastened matter of the people of Iraq—burn him and
scatter him into the sea, scattering.” So Yu suf then ordered Khara sh
ibn H awshab to take him down from his trunk, burn him with fire,
then place him in sacks, load him onto a boat, and scatter him into the
Euphrates—peace from Allah be upon him and upon his pure
forefathers.
The Shī ʿa narrated that his ashes gathered in the Euphrates until they
became like a lunar halo, shining with intense light; and the place of
that is known, and healing is sought there.
Hisha m—may Allah curse him—when his head was brought to him,
cast it among the chickens. One of the people of al-Sha m said: “Drive
the rooster away from the forelock of Zayd, for the chickens do not
tread upon it.” A poet of Banu Umayyah boasted of his killing and
crucifixion, saying:
We crucified for you Zayd upon a palm trunk,
And we saw no Mahdī crucified upon a trunk.
Allah—Exalted is He—then enabled the minister of the family of Muh
ammad, Abu H afs al-Khalla l al-Sabī ʿī , to crucify Hisha m ibn ʿAbd al-
Malik, strike him, and burn him. That was because when Hisha m died,
they coated him with aloes so that he would not decay. The Shī ʿa
found him when they exhumed him just as he had been buried. One ofthe poets of that era said, in a verse praising Imam al-Mans u r bi-lla h
(Peace be Upon Him):
How often the preservation of a body was its ruin,
As aloes harmed the body of Hisham.
And Abu Thumaylah al-Anba rī elegized Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be Upon
Them Both), saying:
O Abu al-Husayn, your loss has lent grief its burning,
Whoever meets what I have met from it.
Sleeplessness raged—had it been for other than you,
Fate would have aimed it where it aimed, unseen.
I became, after you, like one stricken, and at times
I resembled, at evening, the act of the inflamed-eyed.
We say: Do not go far—your distance is our ailment,
And so is it that whoever meets death goes far.
You were the one hoped for in great resolves and reason,
Expected for the affair of the wavering community.
You were killed when every contender had grown weary,
And you ascended to the heights with every ascender.
You sought the utmost of the forerunners’ goal and attained it,
By Allah, upon the ways of a noble source.
Your Lord refused that you should die without having gone
Among them with the conduct of a truthful helper.
Killing in the path of Allah is a trait
Among you, and a taking hold of the noblest deeds.
The wild beasts are safe, while the family of Muhammad
Are between one slain and one driven away.
Erected when darkness casts its veils,
The doves sleep, while his night does not sleep.
Would that I knew—though calamities are many—
The causes of what leads on, and what does not.
What is the proof of those who rejoiced at his killing
Yesterday—or what is the excuse of the people of the mosque?
And al-Sayyid al-Murshid bi-lla h Abu al-H usayn Yah ya ibn al-H usayn
al-Jurja nī al-H usaynī (Peace be Upon Him) narrated to al-Fad l ibn
ʿAbd al-Rah ma n ibn al-ʿAbba s an elegy for Zayd ibn ʿAlī (Peace be
Upon Them Both):
O eye—then rejoice and pour forth,
With your tears; this is no time for dryness,
Nor a time for feigned endurance—so let them flow;
How could your tears remain after Zayd?
After the son of the Prophet, Abu al-Husayn,
Crucified at al-Kanasah upon a trunk?
He passes the day upon their pillar and greets the night—
May my soul be ransomed—bones upon the pillar.
The tyrannical unbeliever transgressed against him,
So he brought him out from the narrow grave.
They continued exhuming Abu al-Husayn,
Stained among them with flowing blood.
Their wanton play in arrogance grew long,
Yet they had no power over the exalted soul.So he dwells in the
gardens beside the sons of his father,
And their forefathers—the best of grandfathers.
How many, for Abu al-Husayn, are there of fathers
Among the martyrs, or a martyred uncle,
And among the sons of uncles—many shall meet,
They are more entitled to him at the place of arrival,
The arrival at the Basin on the day he repels from it,
And prevents the tyrant, the obstinate, from it,
And he turns away his party—all of them—with him,
Thirsty, driven toward the putrid drink.
He was called by a people who broke faith with his father,
Al-Husayn, after the firm sealing of covenants:
“You burden us and detain us in ingratitude,
And make us Umayyah in shackles.”
You covet our affection—never!
For among us, Umayyah has no beloved.
They said: “We do not believe them in speech,”
Nor did they accept counsel from the rightly guided.
Some of them equated him with others,
A faction of the people in the very fuel.
So, we are like those of us who have passed,
And you are like your Shīʿa among the people of scarred cheeks.
The calamity of Zayd has prevented sleep,
And his loss has taken away the savor of rest.
They have become enamored of killing the sons of ʿAlī,
And have plunged into their far-reaching error.
How many a martyr there was on that day—
Upon you, O Umayyah, are witnesses:
From your very selves, when the truth speaks,
From among your ears—and your skins.
Nor do I despair that you will become,
Swine—and in the forms of apes.
And for Abu al-Qa sim Isma ʿī l ibn ʿAbba d—may Allah benefit him by
righteous deeds—he said:
Streaks of gray have appeared upon my head,
And it is time for diversion to be refined and divorced.
There is no diversion with a grief that restrains me,
On the day of Zayd—and some grief is restraint.
When he saw that the right of the religion was cast aside,
And divided as plunder and obliteration,
And that the affair of Hisham, in his tyranny,
Was increasing in evil—and that the filth was heretical,
The Imam rose by the right of Allah—stirred by him
Love of the religion; indeed the religion is beloved.
He called to what his forefathers had called to before, Toward it—and
he is regarded by Allah’s eye.
When my ardors fell upon him—and did not— No creature among
creation could impede him.
Son of the Prophet—yes; son of the Executor—yes; Son of the
martyr—yes; and the statement is true.
They were not satisfied by killing him until they assailed him With
killing, crucifixion, burning, and drowning.