Editing Arba’een (section)

==Significance==
A day of mourning, preferably at the shrine of Imam Hussain, Arbaʿeen forms part of a cycle of days commemorating the burial of the [[Imam]] and his companions and the various stages of the return journey of the women captives to Medina. Many pious tales, which have come to form an important part of the [[Ashura]] tradition, have sprung up around this journey.<ref>M. B. Maǰlesī, Beḥār al-anwār XLV, Tehran, 1384/1964, pp. 107, 112ff., and passim.</ref> A special pilgrimage of visitation, the Ziarat of Arba’een, is associated with the day, which is still widely observed.
The sanctity of the number forty and especially of the forty-day period in the religious lore of the region is most probably one of the reasons behind this tradition. Fortieth-day observances honoring the dead are still common in the Middle East.

===The Number Forty in Qur’an===
There is spiritual significance to some numbers and this is seen in the Qur’an and the traditions such that the number forty is repeated in many places of the Qur’an:

 (وَإِذْ وَاعَدْنَا مُوسَى أَرْبَعِینَ لَیْلَةً ثُمَّ اتَّخَذْتُمُ الْعِجْلَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِ وَأَنْتُمْ ظَالِمُونَ)

“And when We appointed a time of forty nights with Musa, then you took the calf (for a god) after him and you were unjust.” (Suratul Baqarah, 2: 51)

  ﴿قَالَ فَإِنَّهَا مُحَرَّمَةٌ عَلَیْهِمْ أَرْبَعِینَ سَنَةً یَتِیهُونَ فِی الْأَرْضِ فَلَا تَأْسَ عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْفَاسِقِینَ﴾

“He said: So it shall surely be forbidden to them for forty years, they shall wander about in the land, therefore do not grieve for the nation of transgressors.” (Suratul Maidah, 5:26)

 (وَوَاعَدْنَا مُوسَى ثَلَاثِینَ لَیْلَةً وَأَتْمَمْنَاهَا بِعَشْرٍ فَتَمَّ مِیقَاتُ رَبِّهِ أَرْبَعِینَ لَیْلَةً وَقَالَ مُوسَى لِأَخِیهِ هَارُونَ اخْلُفْنِی فِی قَوْمِی وَأَصْلِحْ وَلَا تَتَّبِعْ سَبِیلَ الْمُفْسِدِینَ)

“And We appointed with Musa a time of thirty nights and completed them with ten (more), so the appointed time of his Lord was complete forty nights, and Musa said to his brother Haroun: Take my place among my people, and act well and do not follow the way of the mischief-makers.” (Suratul A’raaf, 7:142)

(وَوَصَّیْنَا الْإِنْسَانَ بِوَالِدَیْهِ إِحْسَانًا حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ کُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ کُرْهًا وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْرًا حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِینَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِی أَنْ أَشْکُرَ نِعْمَتَکَ الَّتِی أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَیَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَیَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِی فِی ذُرِّیَّتِی إِنِّی تُبْتُ إِلَیْکَ وَإِنِّی مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِینَ)

“And We have enjoined on man doing of good to his parents; with trouble did his mother bear him and with trouble did she bring him forth; and the bearing of him and the weaning of him was thirty months; until when he attains his maturity and reaches forty years, he says: My Lord! grant me that I may give thanks for Thy favor which Thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do good which pleases Thee and do good to me in respect of my offspring; surely I turn to Thee, and surely I am of those who submit.” (Suratul Ahqaf, 46:15)

===The Number Forty in Hadith===
In addition, there are numerous traditions which mention the number “40” such as the following:

   عن رسول الله (صلى الله علیه و آله و سلام): إنّ الأرض لتبکی على المؤمن أربعین صباحاً.

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family, has said: “Indeed the Earth laments over the death of a true believer for the period of 40 days.”

   عن الإمام محمد الباقر (علیه السلام) أنّه قال: إنّ السّماء بکت على الحسین أربعین صباحاً.

Imam [[Mohammad al-Baqir|Muhammad al-Baqir]], peace be upon him, has said: “Indeed the sky lamented over the death of al-Husayn for a period of 40 days.”

   عن الإمام الصّادق(علیه السلام) أنّه قال: إنّ السّماء بکت على الحسین أربعین صباحاً بالدّم، والأرض بکت علیه أربعین صباحاً بالسّواد، والشّمس بکت علیه أربعین صباحاً بالکسوف والحمرة، والملائکة بکت علیه أربعین صباحاً، وما اختضبت امرأة منّا ولا ادّهنت ولا اکتحلت ولا رجّلت حتّى أتانا رأس عبید الله بن زیاد وما زلنا فی عبرة من بعده.

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq, peace be upon him, said: “The heavens cried for forty days with blood (weeping) over Imam Husayn; the earth cried for forty days by being covered with darkness; the sun cried for forty days by being in eclipse and turning red; the mountains were torn apart and dispersed; the seas gushed out and the angles cried for forty days over him. After Imam Husayn’s martyrdom, all of our women stopped colouring their hair, using kohl, applying oil, and styling their hair until the head of Ubaydullah ibn Ziyaad was sent to us; and even after that we (all) continued to weep over him.”