{"id":23551,"date":"2025-09-08T19:29:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T16:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/?post_type=the_postes&#038;p=23551"},"modified":"2026-04-08T19:55:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T16:55:19","slug":"z-his-martyrdom-and-the-extent-of-his-age-peace-be-uponhim","status":"publish","type":"the_postes","link":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/the_postes\/an-introduction-to-zaydism-its-origins-and-the-issues-surrounding-it\/who-is-imam-zayd-to-whom-the-zaydis-are-attributed\/z-his-martyrdom-and-the-extent-of-his-age-peace-be-uponhim\/","title":{"rendered":"Z\u2014His Martyrdom and the Extent of His Age (Peace be UponHim)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Da wu d ibn Kaysa n, from among the companions of Yu suf ibn \u02bfUmar,<br>shot him with an arrow, which struck his forehead. A physician was<br>summoned for him and informed him that if it were removed, he<br>would die immediately. He (Peace be Upon Him) said: \u201cDeath is easier<br>for me than what I am in.\u201d So he (Peace be Upon Him) delivered his<br>covenant and made his bequest. Among his bequest to his son Yah ya<br>(Peace be Upon Him) was that he said: \u201cMy son, strive against them;<br>for by Allah, you are upon the truth and they are upon falsehood. Your<br>slain are in Paradise and their slain are in the Fire.\u201d Then the arrow<br>was removed from him, and he passed away at once\u2014peace from<br>Allah be upon him. That occurred on the eve of Friday, with five nights<br>remaining of Muh arram, in the year one hundred and twenty-two,<br>according to the soundest reports; and it is said: the year one hundred<br>and twenty-one, which is what al-\u02bfAq\u012b q\u012b mentioned. Al-Sayyid Abu T a<br>lib (Peace be Upon Him) related all of that.<br>When he (Peace be Upon Him) passed away, his companions differed<br>regarding his burial. Then they agreed to divert a river from its course,<br>dig a grave for him, bury him, and let the water flow over that place.<br>With them at that time was a Sindhi youth. When morning came, a<br>herald of Yu suf ibn \u02bfUmar proclaimed: \u201cWhoever points out the grave<br>of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b shall have such-and-such an amount of wealth.\u201d That<br>youth pointed them to it. They extracted him (Peace be Upon Him)<br>from his grave, severed his head, sent it to Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik,<br>and crucified his body at al-Kana sah.<br>There appeared upon his crucified body signs of honor that indicate<br>the loftiness of his station with Allah\u2014Exalted is He. Among them is<br>what was narrated: that a spider would weave over his nakedness by<br>night; and when morning came, they\u2014may Allah curse them\u2014would<br>tear its weaving with spears.<br>Among them is that a believing woman passed by and cast her veil<br>upon him; by the will of Allah\u2014Exalted is He\u2014it became fastened, so<br>they climbed up and untied it, whereupon his navel slackened until it<br>covered his nakedness. And a man passed by and pointed at him with<br>his finger, saying: \u201cThis is the immoral one, son of an immoral one,\u201d<br>and his finger vanished into his palm.<br>Among them is what was narrated: that two white birds came; one<br>alighted upon one palace and the other upon another palace. One of<br>them said to the other:<br>Do you announce Zayd\u2019s death, or shall I announce it?<br>The killer of Zayd\u2014no salvation for him.<br>The other replied: Woe to him\u2014he sold his Hereafter for his worldly<br>life.<br>It is also narrated that two men from Banu D abbah came, each<br>holding the hand of the other, until they stood opposite the plank of<br>Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Them Both). One of them struck the<br>plank with his hand while saying: \u201cThe recompense of those who wage<br>war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon the earth with<br>corruption is that they be killed or crucified, or that their hands and<br>feet be cut off from opposite sides, or that they be exiled from the<br>land.\u201d [Al-Ma\u02beidah: 33] He then attempted to bend his hand,<br>whereupon it was consumed by gangrene; his side collapsed, and he<br>died\u2014into the Fire.<br>When the head of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Them Both) was sent<br>to Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik, he forwarded it to the City of the<br>Messenger (May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace),<br>to Ibra h\u012b m ibn Ha shim al-Makhzu m\u012b . He erected the head. People of<br>Mad\u012b nah spoke to Ibra h\u012b m and said: \u201cDo not erect his head,\u201d but he<br>refused. Mad\u012b nah resounded with weeping from the houses of Banu<br>Ha shim as on the day of al-H usayn (Peace<br>be Upon Him). When Kath\u012b r ibn Kath\u012b r ibn al-Mut t alib al-Sahm\u012b<br>looked upon the head of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him), he wept<br>and said: \u201cMay Allah illumine your face, O Abu al-H usayn, and deal<br>with your killer.\u201d This reached Ibra h\u012b m ibn Hisha m. The mother of al-<br>Mut t alib was Arwa bint al-H a rith ibn \u02bfAbd al-Mut t alib, and Kath\u012b r<br>inclined greatly toward Banu Ha shim. Ibra h\u012b m said to him: \u201cIt has<br>reached me from you such-and-such.\u201d He replied: \u201cIt is as has reached<br>you.\u201d So he imprisoned him and wrote to Hisha m. While imprisoned,<br>he said:<br>If a man\u2019s faults be<br>His love for the Prophet\u2014without sin,<br>And likewise the sons of Hasan, whose father<br>Was pure in wombs and loins;<br>They deem it a sin that I love you,<br>Yet your love is the expiation of sin.<br>Ibra h\u012b m wrote concerning him to Hisha m, and Hisha m wrote back to<br>him: \u201cSet him upon the pulpit and have him curse \u02bfAl\u012b and Zayd; if hedoes so, then [leave him], otherwise strike him one hundred lashes<br>upon one hundred.\u201d He ordered him to curse \u02bfAl\u012b . He ascended the<br>pulpit and said:<br>May Allah curse the one who reviles \u02bfAl\u012b<br>And his sons\u2014whether commoner or leader.<br>Birds and doves feel secure, yet the family<br>Of the Prophet is not secure at the Station.<br>Blessed is your abode, and blessed your people\u2014<br>The household of the Prophet and of Islam.<br>Welcome to the purified among mankind,<br>The people of lawful rites and consecration.<br>The mercy of Allah and peace be upon you,<br>Whenever one rises greeting with peace.<br>And we have narrated from \u02bfI sa ibn Sawa dah, who said: I was in Mad\u012b<br>nah at the grave, at the head of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and<br>his family and grant them peace), when the head of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b<br>(Peace be Upon Them Both) was brought with a group of his<br>companions. It was erected at the rear of the mosque upon a spear,<br>and it was proclaimed among the people of Mad\u012b nah: \u201cProtection is<br>disavowed from any man who has reached maturity and does not<br>attend the mosque.\u201d So the people\u2014strangers and others\u2014were<br>herded. We remained for seven days. The governor, Muh ammad ibn<br>Hisha m al-Makhzu m\u012b , would go out, and the preachers who stood by<br>the heads would rise and deliver sermons, cursing \u02bfAl\u012b , al-H usayn,<br>Zayd, and their followers. When they finished, the tribes\u2014Arabs and<br>non-Arabs\u2014would rise; Banu \u02bfUthma n were the first to rise and<br>curse, then the clans of Quraysh, the Ans a r, and the rest of the people.<br>When the noon prayer was performed, they would depart, then return<br>the next day in the same manner\u2014for seven days. A man from<br>Quraysh stood on one of those days; he was Muh ammad ibn S afwa nal-Jumah \u012b , the father of this judge, the judge of Abu Ja\u02bffar. Muh ammad<br>ibn Hisha m said to him: \u201cSit down.\u201d He then rose again without being<br>called, so Muh ammad ibn Hisha m said to him: \u201cSit down.\u201d He replied:<br>\u201cThis is a position not undertaken at every hour.\u201d He said: \u201cThen<br>speak.\u201d He began his sermon, then proceeded to curse \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be<br>Upon Him) and his household, al-H usayn ibn \u02bfAl\u012b , Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace<br>be Upon Them All), and those who loved them. While he was doing so,<br>he placed his hand upon his head and fell to the ground. I thought his<br>sermon had ended, and I did not know what had occurred until night<br>fell and the news spread: Allah\u2014Exalted is He\u2014had struck his head<br>with a headache so severe that he could not control it, until his<br>eyesight was taken from him at that very moment. There was a man<br>leaning against the grave who struck his hand toward me in alarm. I<br>said: \u201cWhat did you see?\u201d He said: \u201cI saw the grave split open, and a<br>man came out of it wearing white garments. He faced the pulpit and<br>said: \u2018You have lied\u2014may Allah curse you.\u2019\u201d And from Shab\u012b b ibn<br>Gharqad, who said: We arrived as pilgrims from Makkah and entered<br>al-Kana sah by night. When we were near the plank of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b<br>(Peace be Upon Them Both), the night became illuminated for us. We<br>continued walking near his plank, and the fragrance of musk wafted to<br>us. I said to my companion: \u201cIs this how the smell of the crucified is<br>found?\u201d A voice called out to me, saying: \u201cThus is found the fragrance<br>of the children of the prophets\u2014those who judge by the truth and act<br>justly by it.\u201d<br>And we have narrated from H afs ibn \u02bfA s im al-Sulu l\u012b , who said: Ah<br>mad ibn Isma \u02bf\u012b l ibn al-Yasa\u02bf al-\u02bfA mir\u012b narrated to us\u2014he was in Da r<br>al-Lu\u02belu\u02be\u2014he said: I saw \u02bfArzama h, the brother of Kana sah al-Asad\u012b ,<br>and he was among the most handsome of men and the finest in<br>appearance. Every day he would go to al-Kana sah and sit by those<br>who guarded the plank of Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Them Both).<br>There was there a gathering of the Asad\u012b s. On his way he would pick<br>up seven small stones, then come and sit among the people, and say:<br>\u201cHere\u2014into his eye.\u201d He would pelt Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Him)<br>with those seven stones every day. Isma \u02bf\u012b l ibn al-Yasa\u02bf said: By Himbesides whom there is no god, he did not die until I saw his eyes<br>swollen, as if they were two green glass bottles.<br>Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon Them Both) remained crucified upon the<br>plank for a year and some months; it is also said: days; and it is said:<br>two years. Al-Sayyid Abu T a lib (Peace be Upon Him) mentioned this.<br>And we have narrated through the route of al-Murshid bi-lla h (Peace<br>be Upon Him), raising it to his men, that he remained crucified until<br>the days of al-Wal\u012b d ibn Yaz\u012b d. When Yah ya ibn Zayd appeared, al-<br>Wal\u012b d wrote to Yu suf: \u201cTo proceed: when this letter of mine reaches<br>you, look to the hastened matter of the people of Iraq\u2014burn him and<br>scatter him into the sea, scattering.\u201d So Yu suf then ordered Khara sh<br>ibn H awshab to take him down from his trunk, burn him with fire,<br>then place him in sacks, load him onto a boat, and scatter him into the<br>Euphrates\u2014peace from Allah be upon him and upon his pure<br>forefathers.<br>The Sh\u012b \u02bfa narrated that his ashes gathered in the Euphrates until they<br>became like a lunar halo, shining with intense light; and the place of<br>that is known, and healing is sought there.<br>Hisha m\u2014may Allah curse him\u2014when his head was brought to him,<br>cast it among the chickens. One of the people of al-Sha m said: \u201cDrive<br>the rooster away from the forelock of Zayd, for the chickens do not<br>tread upon it.\u201d A poet of Banu Umayyah boasted of his killing and<br>crucifixion, saying:<br>We crucified for you Zayd upon a palm trunk,<br>And we saw no Mahd\u012b crucified upon a trunk.<br>Allah\u2014Exalted is He\u2014then enabled the minister of the family of Muh<br>ammad, Abu H afs al-Khalla l al-Sab\u012b \u02bf\u012b , to crucify Hisha m ibn \u02bfAbd al-<br>Malik, strike him, and burn him. That was because when Hisha m died,<br>they coated him with aloes so that he would not decay. The Sh\u012b \u02bfa<br>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<br>(Peace be Upon Him):<br>How often the preservation of a body was its ruin,<br>As aloes harmed the body of Hisham.<br>And Abu Thumaylah al-Anba r\u012b elegized Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be Upon<br>Them Both), saying:<br>O Abu al-Husayn, your loss has lent grief its burning,<br>Whoever meets what I have met from it.<br>Sleeplessness raged\u2014had it been for other than you,<br>Fate would have aimed it where it aimed, unseen.<br>I became, after you, like one stricken, and at times<br>I resembled, at evening, the act of the inflamed-eyed.<br>We say: Do not go far\u2014your distance is our ailment,<br>And so is it that whoever meets death goes far.<br>You were the one hoped for in great resolves and reason,<br>Expected for the affair of the wavering community.<br>You were killed when every contender had grown weary,<br>And you ascended to the heights with every ascender.<br>You sought the utmost of the forerunners\u2019 goal and attained it,<br>By Allah, upon the ways of a noble source.<br>Your Lord refused that you should die without having gone<br>Among them with the conduct of a truthful helper.<br>Killing in the path of Allah is a trait<br>Among you, and a taking hold of the noblest deeds.<br>The wild beasts are safe, while the family of Muhammad<br>Are between one slain and one driven away.<br>Erected when darkness casts its veils,<br>The doves sleep, while his night does not sleep.<br>Would that I knew\u2014though calamities are many\u2014<br>The causes of what leads on, and what does not.<br>What is the proof of those who rejoiced at his killing<br>Yesterday\u2014or what is the excuse of the people of the mosque?<br>And al-Sayyid al-Murshid bi-lla h Abu al-H usayn Yah ya ibn al-H usayn<br>al-Jurja n\u012b al-H usayn\u012b (Peace be Upon Him) narrated to al-Fad l ibn<br>\u02bfAbd al-Rah ma n ibn al-\u02bfAbba s an elegy for Zayd ibn \u02bfAl\u012b (Peace be<br>Upon Them Both):<br>O eye\u2014then rejoice and pour forth,<br>With your tears; this is no time for dryness,<br>Nor a time for feigned endurance\u2014so let them flow;<br>How could your tears remain after Zayd?<br>After the son of the Prophet, Abu al-Husayn,<br>Crucified at al-Kanasah upon a trunk?<br>He passes the day upon their pillar and greets the night\u2014<br>May my soul be ransomed\u2014bones upon the pillar.<br>The tyrannical unbeliever transgressed against him,<br>So he brought him out from the narrow grave.<br>They continued exhuming Abu al-Husayn,<br>Stained among them with flowing blood.<br>Their wanton play in arrogance grew long,<br>Yet they had no power over the exalted soul.So he dwells in the<br>gardens beside the sons of his father,<br>And their forefathers\u2014the best of grandfathers.<br>How many, for Abu al-Husayn, are there of fathers<br>Among the martyrs, or a martyred uncle,<br>And among the sons of uncles\u2014many shall meet,<br>They are more entitled to him at the place of arrival,<br>The arrival at the Basin on the day he repels from it,<br>And prevents the tyrant, the obstinate, from it,<br>And he turns away his party\u2014all of them\u2014with him,<br>Thirsty, driven toward the putrid drink.<br>He was called by a people who broke faith with his father,<br>Al-Husayn, after the firm sealing of covenants:<br>\u201cYou burden us and detain us in ingratitude,<br>And make us Umayyah in shackles.\u201d<br>You covet our affection\u2014never!<br>For among us, Umayyah has no beloved.<br>They said: \u201cWe do not believe them in speech,\u201d<br>Nor did they accept counsel from the rightly guided.<br>Some of them equated him with others,<br>A faction of the people in the very fuel.<br>So, we are like those of us who have passed,<br>And you are like your Sh\u012b\u02bfa among the people of scarred cheeks.<br>The calamity of Zayd has prevented sleep,<br>And his loss has taken away the savor of rest.<br>They have become enamored of killing the sons of \u02bfAl\u012b,<br>And have plunged into their far-reaching error.<br>How many a martyr there was on that day\u2014<br>Upon you, O Umayyah, are witnesses:<br>From your very selves, when the truth speaks,<br>From among your ears\u2014and your skins.<br>Nor do I despair that you will become,<br>Swine\u2014and in the forms of apes.<br>And for Abu al-Qa sim Isma \u02bf\u012b l ibn \u02bfAbba d\u2014may Allah benefit him by<br>righteous deeds\u2014he said:<br>Streaks of gray have appeared upon my head,<br>And it is time for diversion to be refined and divorced.<br>There is no diversion with a grief that restrains me,<br>On the day of Zayd\u2014and some grief is restraint.<br>When he saw that the right of the religion was cast aside,<br>And divided as plunder and obliteration,<br>And that the affair of Hisham, in his tyranny,<br>Was increasing in evil\u2014and that the filth was heretical,<br>The Imam rose by the right of Allah\u2014stirred by him<br>Love of the religion; indeed the religion is beloved.<br>He called to what his forefathers had called to before, Toward it\u2014and<br>he is regarded by Allah\u2019s eye.<br>When my ardors fell upon him\u2014and did not\u2014 No creature among<br>creation could impede him.<br>Son of the Prophet\u2014yes; son of the Executor\u2014yes; Son of the<br>martyr\u2014yes; and the statement is true.<br>They were not satisfied by killing him until they assailed him With<br>killing, crucifixion, burning, and drowning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Da wu d ibn Kaysa n, from among the companions of Yu suf ibn \u02bfUmar,shot him with an arrow, which struck his forehead. A physician wassummoned for him and informed him that if it were removed, hewould die immediately. He (Peace be Upon Him) said: \u201cDeath is easierfor me than what I am in.\u201d So&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/the_postes\/an-introduction-to-zaydism-its-origins-and-the-issues-surrounding-it\/who-is-imam-zayd-to-whom-the-zaydis-are-attributed\/z-his-martyrdom-and-the-extent-of-his-age-peace-be-uponhim\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Z\u2014His Martyrdom and the Extent of His Age (Peace be UponHim)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":796,"featured_media":0,"parent":23199,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jet_sm_ready_style":"","_jet_sm_style":"","_jet_sm_controls_values":"","_jet_sm_fonts_collection":"","_jet_sm_fonts_links":"","footnotes":""},"post_subject":[],"class_list":["post-23551","the_postes","type-the_postes","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes\/23551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/the_postes"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/796"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes\/23551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23552,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes\/23551\/revisions\/23552"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/the_postes\/23199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alorwahalwuthqa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_subject?post=23551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}