The Fourteen Stations of His Afflictions

منازل چهارده گانه‌ي مصائب آن حضرت

منازل مصائبش كه مصائب منازل است پس آن نيز چهارده است:اول: منزل اصلي كه مدينه‌ي طيبه بود، و او را [مجبور] نمودند به جلا، و بسيار بر او صعب بود پس شكايت بخداوند نمود، و عرض كرد: خدايا ما عترت پيغمبر تو هستيم كه ما را از وطن بيرون كردند [1031] و شكايت به پيغمبر (صلي الله عليه و آله) كرد آن وقتي كه به نزد قبرش آمد از براي وداع و گفت: منم حسين پسر فاطمه (عليهاالسلام) دختر تو، مرا امت واگذاشتند و ضايع نمودند. [1032] . [ صفحه 343] دوم: منزلش در مكه‌ي معظمه كه محل امن بود از براي هر چيزي از انسان و حيوان و مرغان و وحوش و درخت و عطف، و اين حرم امان، مقام خوف آن جناب گرديد كه خواستند او را در آن جا به قتل رسانند پس از آنجا كوچ كرد. [1033] .سوم: ما بين مكه و كوفه كه در هر محلي مي‌رسيد او را تخويف مي‌كردند از رفتن به كوفه، و از ياري او امتناع مي‌كردند.چهارم: كربلا بود كه در آن نازل شد به قصد اقامت و توطن، و فرمود: بارها را فرود آوريد كه ديگر از اينجا كوچ نخواهيم كرد. [1034] .پنجم: در مركز ميدان بود كه هر وقت از قتال خسته مي‌شد در آن مركز مي‌ايستاد و مي‌فرمود: لا حول و لاقوة الا بالله. [1035] .ششم: مصرعش بود كه در علم الهي از برايش اختيار شده، و در ظاهر آن باقي ماند سه روز يا چهار روز، و بعد به بطن آن زمين قرار گرفت كه قبر معظم آن جناب است. [1036] .هفتم: منزل سر مباركش بود شب يازدهم محرم در خانه‌ي خولي زير اجانه يا تنور در روي خاكستر، چنانكه در السنه مشهور است كه نور نازل شد در تنور. [1037] .هشتم: منزل آن سر، مجلس ابن‌زياد در ميان طبق پيش روي آن لعين، و او اظهار خوشحالي مي‌نمود و تبسم مي‌كرد و شايد اين تبسم اعظم است از زدن به خيزران و زدن به بيني و چشمان شريف آن جناب، آه. [1038] .نهم: منزلش كوفه بالاي درخت. [1039] .دهم: منزلش در مابين كوفه و شام، و گاهي بالاي نيزه، و گاهي در ميان صندوق، و در هر شهر و بلد از آن سر منور علامتي است. [ صفحه 344] يازدهم: منزلش در دير راهب و در اين منزل او را اكرام نمودند و با مشك و كافور او را مطيب كردند و تحيت و سلام گفتند و جواب شنيدند، چنانكه تفصيلش در مقام خود مذكور است. [1040] .دوازدهم: منزلش در شام مجلس يزيد عنيد در ميان طشت طلا كه پيش روي او گذاشته بودند، و همه‌ي مصيبتها بر آن جناب در اين مجلس بود، كه از بيست مصيبت متجاوز است كه بعضي در آن مجلس حادث شد و بعضي در آنجا تازه گرديد. [1041] .سيزدهم: منزل او كه بر در خانه‌ي يزيد آويزان نمودند، و هند زوجه‌ي يزيد متحمل اين اهانت نشد، و با سر برهنه بيرون آمد و فرياد كرد: اي يزيد اين سر پسر فاطمه (عليهاالسلام) است كه بر در خانه‌ي من آويخته‌اي؟ يزيد برخواست و او را پوشانيد و به حرم خود برگردانيد، و گفت: اي هند، نوحه كن بر فرزند رسول‌خدا و بزرگ قريش، پس امر كرد سر را به زير آورند. [1042] .چهاردهم: منزلش بر در دروازه‌ي شام كه آنرا بر آنجا آويخته بودند، و اين اهانت آن قدر بزرگ بود كه صبر امامت حضرت سجاد (عليه‌السلام) متحمل آن نگرديد، و فرياد زد: اي يزيد حيا نمي‌كني كه سر فرزند فاطمه را بر دروازه‌ي بلد تو آويخته‌اند و حال آنكه او وديعه‌ي پيغمبر (صلي الله عليه و آله) است. [1043] .پس در اين مقام صبر نكرد، با اينكه چون ديد سر را در طشت نزد يزيد گذاشتند و با چوب خيزران اشاره به لب و دندان او مي‌كرد، صبر كرد و سخن نگفت.و از براي جناب حسين (عليه‌السلام) بعد از اين منازل، چون قرآن كريم، منزلي است مخصوص، در مدفن، و محشر به هيئت مخصوصي، تا وقتي كه منتهي شود به منزل مخصوص در بهشت، در آن درجاتي كه جدش فرمود: نمي‌رسد به آنها مگر به شهادت. [1044] . [ صفحه 345] و اعلاي آنها آن است كه در حديث اشاره شده به آن كه ملحق شدن به خاتم انبياء است در منزل و درجه‌ي او [1045] ، چنانكه تفصيل آن در محلش مذكور است.

The Fourteen Stations of His Afflictions

As for the stations of his afflictions—which are afflictions of stations and places—they too are fourteen:

First: His original abode, which was the blessed city of Madinah. He was compelled to leave it, and this was extremely difficult for him. Therefore he complained to Allah and said:

“O Allah, we are the family of Your Prophet (s.a.w.a.), and they have expelled us from our homeland.” [1031]

And he complained to the Holy Prophet Mohammed (s.a.w.a.) when he came to his grave to bid farewell and said:

“I am Imam Husain (a.s.), the son of Fatimah (a.s.), your daughter. The community has abandoned me and neglected me.” [1032]

[ صفحه 343]

Second: His station in Makkah al-Mukarramah, which was a sanctuary of safety for every creature—human beings, animals, birds, wild beasts, trees, and plants. Yet this sanctuary of security became a place of fear for him, for they intended to kill him there. Therefore he departed from it. [1033]

Third: The route between Makkah and Kufah. At every place he reached, people tried to frighten him from proceeding to Kufah and refused to support him.

Fourth: Karbala, where he settled intending residence and permanence. He said:

“Unload the baggage, for we shall not depart from here again.” [1034]

Fifth: The center of the battlefield. Whenever he became exhausted from fighting, he would stand in that place and say:

«لا حول و لا قوة إلا بالله»

“There is no power and no strength except through Allah.” [1035]

Sixth: The place of his martyrdom (masra'a), which had been chosen for him in the Divine Knowledge. Outwardly, he remained upon that ground for three or four days, and afterward he came to rest within that earth, which became his noble grave. [1036]

Seventh: The station of his blessed head on the night of the eleventh of Muharram, in the house of Khawli, beneath a basin or an oven upon ashes, as is widely known. It is said that a heavenly light descended into the oven. [1037]

Eighth: The station of that head in the assembly of Ibn Ziyad, placed upon a tray before that accursed one. He displayed joy and smiled. Perhaps this smile was even more grievous than the striking with the cane and the blows directed toward the blessed nose and eyes of that noble one. Alas! [1038]

Ninth: Its station in Kufah, suspended upon a tree. [1039]

Tenth: Its station between Kufah and Sham (Syria), at times upon a spear and at times within a chest. In every city and town there remained a sign from that radiant head.

[ صفحه 344]

Eleventh: Its station in the monastery of the monk (dayr al-raahib). In this station, it was honored; it was perfumed with musk and camphor, salutations and greetings were offered to it, and replies were heard from it, as the details are mentioned in their proper place. [1040]

Twelfth: Its station in Sham, in the assembly of the obstinate Yazid, within a golden tray that had been placed before him. In this gathering, all the calamities befell that noble one. They exceeded twenty afflictions: some occurred in that very assembly, while others were renewed there. [1041]

Thirteenth: Its station when it was hung at the door of Yazid’s residence. Hind, the wife of Yazid, could not bear this humiliation. She came out with her head uncovered and cried:

“O Yazid! Is this the head of the son of Fatimah (a.s.) that you have hung upon the door of my house?”

Yazid arose, covered her, returned her to his quarters, and said:

“O Hind, mourn for the son of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) and the chief of Quraysh.”

Then he ordered that the head be taken down. [1042]

Fourteenth: Its station upon the gate of the city of Sham, where it had been hung. This humiliation was so immense that even the patience of Imam al-Sajjad (a.s.) could not endure it, and he cried out:

“O Yazid! Do you feel no shame that the head of the son of Fatimah (a.s.) has been hung upon the gate of your city, while he is the trust (wadi'ah) of the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.)?”

[1043]

At this point he could not remain silent, although when he had seen the head placed in a tray before Yazid, and Yazid pointing toward its lips and teeth with a cane, he had remained patient and said nothing.

And for Imam Husain (a.s.), after these stations, there is—like the Noble Qur’an—a special station in his burial place and another in the gathering of the Resurrection (Mahshar) in a unique form, until he reaches his special station in Paradise, within those darajaat (degrees) about which his grandfather (s.a.w.a.) said that none shall attain them except through martyrdom. [1044]

The highest of those degrees is that which has been indicated in the tradition: joining the Seal of the Prophets, the Holy Prophet Mohammed (s.a.w.a.), in his abode and rank. [1045]

As the details of that have been mentioned in their proper place.