In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The best of generations in their conduct and as an example,
Following the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
Mawaddah Association
Presents
Scenes from the Lives of the Tabi'un
By Dr. Abd al-Rahman Ra'fat al-Basha,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
Zayn al-'Abidin,
May Allah have mercy upon him.
That illustrious year saw the closing
Of the final page of the Sassanid era.
For Yazdegerd died,
The last of the Persian kings, a fugitive and an outcast.
His knights, guards, and household fell as captives into the hands of the Muslims.
The spoils were driven to the city of Medina.
The captives of that great victory were
Numerous, abundant, and precious.
Medina had never witnessed a greater number or a more momentous event.
Among the captives were
The three daughters of Yazdegerd.
The people flocked to the captives,
Purchasing them within a matter of hours,
And returning the proceeds to the public treasury (Bayt al-Mal) of the Muslims.
Nothing remained of them except the daughters of the Chosroes, Yazdegerd.
They were among the most beautiful of women,
The most radiant in appearance and the freshest in youth.
When they were presented for sale,
They bowed their heads to the ground in humiliation and disgrace,
Their eyes overflowing with sorrow and brokenness.
Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah honor his face, felt pity for them,
And wished that someone who knew how to care for them would purchase them.
And no wonder,
For the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Show mercy to a noble person who has been humbled."
So he leaned toward Umar Ibn al-Khattab and said,
"O Commander of the Faithful,
The daughters of kings are not to be treated like others."
Umar replied, "You have spoken the truth.
But how?"
Ali said,
"They should be valued at a high price,
Then given the freedom to choose whom they wish from among those who pay the price."
Umar was comforted by this, approved of it, and implemented it.
One of them chose Abdullah Ibn Umar Ibn al-Khattab,
The second chose Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr al-Siddiq,
As for the third,
Who was called Shahzanan,
She chose al-Husayn Ibn Ali.
The Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had predicted this.
Shahzanan embraced Islam, and her Islam was sincere.
She attained the value of the faith and was emancipated from slavery,
Becoming a wife after having been a captive, and thus she gained her freedom.
She then decided to sever all ties with her pagan past,
Renouncing her name, Shahzanan, which means "Queen of Women,"
And became known as Ghazalah.
Ghazalah was blessed with the best of husbands,
The most fitting for the daughters of kings.
Her only remaining wish was to be blessed with a child.
Allah honored her,
And she bore al-Husayn a boy, handsome of face and radiant in appearance.
He named him Ali, in honor of his grandfather, Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him and grant him satisfaction.
But Ghazalah’s joy lasted only for a few moments,
For she answered the call of her Lord,
As the pains of childbirth overcame her,
Leaving her no chance to enjoy her newborn.
The care of the young boy was taken over by a maidservant of his,
Who loved him more than a mother loves her own child,
And nurtured him more than a parent nurtures an only child.
He grew up knowing no mother but her.
No sooner had Ali Ibn al-Husayn reached the age of discernment
Than he turned to seeking knowledge with passion and longing.
His first school was his home—what an excellent home it was.
His first teacher was his father, al-Husayn Ibn Ali—what an excellent teacher he was.
As for his second school,
It was the Mosque of the Great Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
The noble Prophetic Mosque was, in those days,
Teeming with the remaining Companions of the noble Messenger,
And overflowing with the first generation of the great Tabi'un.
Both groups
Opened their hearts to these blossoming buds, the children of the noble Companions,
Reciting to them the Book of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
Giving them understanding of it,
Narrating to them the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
Guiding them to its deeper meanings,
Recounting to them the Prophetic biography and his military expeditions,
Reciting to them the poetry of the Arabs,
Opening their eyes to its beauty,
And filling their tender hearts with the love of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic,
And with His fear and piety.
Thus, they became scholars who acted upon their knowledge,
And guides who were rightly guided.
Yet, the heart of Ali Ibn al-Husayn
Did not attach itself to anything
As it attached itself to the Book of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic.
And his emotions were not stirred by anything
As they were stirred by His promises and warnings.
Whenever he read a verse mentioning Paradise,
He would soar with longing for it.
And whenever he heard a verse mentioning the Fire,
He would heave a sigh as if the flames of Hell were in his very soul.
Once Ali Ibn al-Husayn had matured in youth and knowledge,
The ideal Medinan society gained
A young man among the most profound of the youth of Banu Hashim in worship and piety,
The greatest of them in virtue and character,
The most generous and righteous,
And the most expansive in knowledge and learning.
His worship and piety reached such a level
That a trembling would seize him between his ablution and his prayer,
Shaking his body violently.
When asked about that, he would say,
"Woe to you! Do you not know before whom I am about to stand?
Do you not know whom I intend to address?"
The Hashimite youth’s excellence
In his worship and his perfection of his rituals reached such a point
That people called him Zayn al-'Abidin (Ornament of the Worshippers),
Until his people almost forgot his actual name.
This title overshadowed his name.
His prostrations were so long,
And he was so absorbed in them,
That the people of Medina called him al-Sajjad (The Prostrator).
The purity of his soul and the clarity of his heart were such
That they described him as al-Zaki (The Pure).
Zayn al-'Abidin, may the pleasure of Allah be upon him,
Was certain that the essence of worship is supplication.
He found the greatest comfort in supplication
While clinging to the coverings of the Ka'bah.
How often he would cling to the Ancient House,
Saying,
"O Lord, You have let me taste of Your mercy what You have tasted me,
And You have bestowed upon me of Your bounty what You have bestowed.
So I have come to call upon You in security, without fear,
And I ask of You, finding comfort in You, without dread.
O Lord, I implore You as one whose need for Your mercy is desperate,
And whose strength is too weak to fulfill Your rights.
So accept from me the prayer of the drowning stranger,
Who finds no one to save him but You,
O Most Generous of the generous."
Tawus Ibn Kaysan once saw him
Standing in the shadows of the Ancient House,
Restless like one suffering from a snakebite,
Weeping like one in deep agony,
And praying the prayer of the distressed.
He stood waiting for him,
And when he ceased his weeping and finished his prayer,
He approached him and said,
"O son of the Messenger of Allah,
I see you in this state,
Yet you have three virtues
That I hope will secure you from fear."
Zayn al-'Abidin asked,
"What are they, O Tawus?"
He replied,
"The first is that you are the son of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
The second,
The intercession of your grandfather for you.
And the third,
The mercy of Allah."
He replied,
"O Tawus,
My lineage to the Messenger, peace be upon him, does not secure me,
After I have heard the words of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic:
“And when the trumpet is blown there will be no kinship among them that day, nor will they ask of one another.” (23:101)
As for the intercession of my grandfather for me,
Allah, may His word be exalted, says:
﴾...and they cannot intercede except on behalf of one whom He approves.﴿
And as for the mercy of Allah, the Almighty,
He says:
﴾Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good.﴿"
Piety bestowed upon Zayn al-'Abidin
All that Allah willed of the characteristics of virtue, nobility, and forbearance,
Until the books of history were adorned with his magnificent accounts,
And their pages shone with his noble stances.
Among these is what al-Hasan Ibn al-Hasan narrated, saying:
"A rift occurred between me and my cousin, Zayn al-'Abidin.
I went to him, seething with rage.
He was with his companions in the mosque.
I did not leave anything unsaid to him,
While he remained silent, not speaking a word.
Then I left.
When night fell,
There was a knock at my door.
I went to see who it was,
And it was Zayn al-'Abidin.
I did not doubt that he had come to return the insult.
But he said,
'O my brother,
If what you said to me is true,
Then may Allah forgive me.
And if it is untrue,
Then may Allah forgive you.'
Then he greeted me with peace and departed.
I followed him and said,
'Certainly,
I shall never return to anything you dislike.'
He softened toward me and said,
'You are absolved of what you said to me.'"
One of the people of Medina narrated, saying:
"Zayn al-'Abidin
...as he was leaving the mosque, so I followed him.
I began to gesture at him with insults.
I did not even know the reason for doing so.
The people rushed toward me, intending to seize me.
Had they caught me,
they would not have let me go until they had crushed me.
He turned to the people and said,
"Leave the man alone."
So they left me alone.
When he saw the terror that had overcome me,
he turned to me with a radiant face.
He began to reassure me and calm my fear.
Then he said to me,
"You have insulted us with what you know,
yet what has been concealed from you regarding our affairs is far greater."
Then he said to me,
"Do you have a need that we might help you with?"
I felt ashamed before him,
and I said nothing.
When he saw my shame,
he cast upon me the garment he was wearing,
and ordered that I be given a thousand dirhams.
From then on, whenever I saw him, I would say,
"I bear witness that you are one of the descendants of the Messenger,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him."
One of his freedmen narrated that he said:
"I was a servant to ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn,
and he sent me on an errand.
I was slow in returning to him.
When I came to him, he struck me with a whip.
I wept, and my anger toward him intensified,
because he had never struck anyone before me.
I said to him,
'Fear Allah, O ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn!
You employ me for a task,
I fulfill it for you, and then you strike me?'
He wept and said,
'Go to the mosque of the Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
and pray two rak'ahs.
Then say,
"O Allah, forgive ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn."
Once you have gone and done that,
you are free for the sake of Allah the Exalted.'
So I went, prayed, and supplicated,
and I did not return to his house until I was a free man."
Allah the Almighty had granted abundance to Zayn al-'Abidin,
and poured provision upon him in great measure.
He had profitable trade,
and flourishing agriculture.
His servants would manage these affairs for him.
His agriculture and trade yielded him abundant goodness,
and much wealth.
Yet, wealth did not make Zayn al-'Abidin arrogant,
nor did his blessings make him insolent.
Rather, he made the wealth of this world a mount for success in the Hereafter.
His wealth was truly the best of wealth, suitable for a righteous servant.
Among the acts of righteousness he loved most was secret charity.
When night would fall,
he would carry sacks of flour on his weary back,
and go out into the darkness of the night while the people were asleep.
He would roam the neighborhoods of Medina to give charity to those in need,
those who would not importune people with requests.
Many groups of people in Medina
lived without knowing from where their comfortable provision came.
When ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn passed away,
these people lost the provision that used to come to them.
That was when they discovered its source.
When Zayn al-'Abidin was placed on the washing bier,
those who washed him looked,
and they found marks of blackness on his back.
They asked, "What is this?"
It was said to them, "It is from the marks of carrying sacks of flour
to a hundred houses in Medina,"
which lost their provider with his passing.
As for the news of ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn freeing slaves,
it spread far and wide across the lands.
For this deed of his surpassed the imagination of those who dream,
and exceeded the aspirations of those who strive.
He would free a slave if he did well,
as a reward for his good conduct.
And he would free a slave if he did wrong and repented,
as a reward for his repentance.
So much so that the narrators reported
that he freed a thousand slaves,
and that he never employed any of his male or female servants for more than one year.
His freeing of his slaves
would most often occur on the night of ‘Eid al-Fitr.
For on that blessed night, he would liberate
as many souls from the bondage of slavery as Allah enabled him to.
He would ask them to face the Qiblah and say,
"O Allah, forgive ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn."
Then he would provide for them in a way that made their ‘Eid two ‘Eids,
and their joy twofold.
‘Ali ibn al-Husayn held a place in the hearts of the people
that no one in his era surpassed.
The people loved him with the most sincere love,
revered him with the greatest reverence,
were attached to him with the deepest attachment,
and longed to see him with the most profound longing.
They would watch for him,
hoping to be blessed by the sight of him leaving his house or entering it,
or going to the mosque or returning from it.
It is narrated that Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik came to Mecca for Hajj,
and he was the Crown Prince at that time.
He approached, intending to perform Tawaf and seeking to touch the Black Stone.
The soldiers surrounding him began to alert the people to him,
and to clear the path for him.
But no one among the people paid them any heed, nor did they make way for them.
For the House is the House of Allah,
and all people are His servants.
While they were in that state,
they heard the sounds of Tahlil and Takbir coming from afar.
Necks craned toward the sound,
and there was a man in a group of people,
handsome and well-proportioned,
lean of body, radiant of face,
upon whom rested tranquility and dignity.
He walked in an izar and a rida,
and the mark of prostration was visible between his eyes.
The masses of people began to part for him,
forming rows upon rows,
greeting him with looks of longing and love,
until he reached the Black Stone and touched it.
Then one of the courtiers turned to Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik
and said to him,
"Who is this whom the people have honored with all this honor,
and revered with all this reverence?"
Hisham said, "I do not know him."
Al-Farazdaq was present,
and he said, "If Hisham does not know him,
I know him, and the whole world knows him.
This is ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn,
may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him, his father, and his grandfather."
Then he recited:
"This is he whose footsteps the desert knows,
and the House knows him, as do the sacred and the profane lands.
This is the son of the best of all Allah’s servants;
this is the pious, the pure, the clean, the beacon.
This is the son of Fatimah, if you are ignorant of him;
through his grandfather, the prophets of Allah were sealed.
Your saying 'Who is this?' does not harm him;
the Arabs and the non-Arabs know whom you have denied.
Both his hands are a relief whose benefit is widespread;
they are ever-giving, and poverty never touches them.
Easy-natured, one does not fear his outbursts;
he is adorned by two things: good character and noble traits.
He never said 'no' except in his Tashahhud;
were it not for the Tashahhud, his 'no' would be 'yes.'
He covered all creation with his kindness, so there vanished
from them the darkness, poverty, and destitution.
When the Quraysh see him, one of them says,
'To the noble qualities of this man, nobility reaches its end.'
He lowers his gaze out of modesty, and he is lowered out of awe;
he is not spoken to except when he smiles.
In his hand is a cane whose scent is fragrant,
from the hand of a magnificent man, with a noble bridge of the nose.
His lineage is derived from the Messenger of Allah;
his roots, his character, and his traits are pure."
May Allah be pleased with the grandson of the Messenger of Allah,
and may He please him, for he was a unique example
of one who fears Allah in secret and in public.
He would restrain his soul out of fear of Allah’s punishment.
I have not seen a Qurayshi better than
‘Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Zuhri.
They are the best in their stances and their example;
they followed the Messenger whenever he strove or spoke.
They were here, watering the clouds,
our lives, so they passed away among us.
Their memory is exalted;
they cast a question into the conscience:
Is there a star like them that has risen and shone?
They filled life with glories,
through their deeds, and the world of the humble
was adorned by them.