Editing Tasu’a (section)

==Shimr’s Arrival at Karbala==
As it is narrated in Irshad, when the letter of [[Omar Ibn Sa’d|Umar bin Sa’d]] reached [[Obayd-Allah Ibn Ziad|Ubayd-Allah]], he read it and said

“This letter is from the man who is a wisher of the chief and is merciful towards his community.” Hearing this [[Shimr b. Dhi l-Jawshan|Shimr b. Dhi’l-Jawshan]]  arose and said, “Will you agree to his demands when he (Imam Hussain) has encamped in your province near you? By Allah! If he goes away from your domain without giving his hand in yours (submitting to you), then he will turn powerful, while you will become weak and distraught. Then do not agree to what he says for it is the sign of impotency. Do command that he along with his companions may submit to you, then if you punish them, you are worthy of it, and have the right to do so.”

Ubayd-Allah replied, “Verily your opinion is very fair. Take my letter to Umar bin Sa’d, so that he may convey my orders to Hussain and his companions that they may submit to my orders without any conditions or stipulations. Then if they agree to it, he should dispatch them alive to me, and if they disagree, he should fight them. Then if Umar bin Sa’d agrees to do so, you should obey him, but if he disagrees, you shall be the commander in chief of the army. Then cut off his (Hussain’s) head and dispatch it over to me.”

Then he wrote to Umar bin Sa’d, “Now then! I had not sent you to Hussain so that you may defend him and be negligent towards him. Nor to offer him assurance of safety and to make lame excuses and intercede on his behalf. Then see, if Hussain and his companions submit to my command, dispatch them over to me without battle. And if he disagrees, attack him and kill him. Then separate every limb of his for he is worth it.

Then again when you have killed him leave the horses to trample upon his back and chest, for he is worthy of it and is an ungrateful man and an oppressor (Allah’s refuge). Although I know that doing so after his death would not effect him, but I have pledged to myself that if I kill him I shall do so. Then if you obey my command, I shall bestow gifts upon you due to the observant and obedient one. And if you disagree, alienate yourself from my army and give the charge to Shimr bin Dhi’l-Jawshan, whom I have ordered to do so. Greetings.”

Abul Faraj relates that Ubayd-Allah sent a message towards Umar bin Sa’d that, “O son of Sa’d! You have been a man of ease and a profligate. Then fight the man (Imam Hussain) and use violence against him and do not yield to any of his requests until his submits to my command.”

It is related in [[Tarikh of Tabari]] that Azdi said, that Haris bin Hasirah relates from Abdullah bin Shareek Amiri, that when Shimr had got the letter written, he arose along with Abdullah bin Abi Mahl, who was an uncle of Ummul Baneen, daughter of Hizam bin Khalid, and the wife of the Commander of the faithful Imam [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]]. Ummul Baneen had four sons from Imam Ali, viz. Abbas, Abdullah, Ja’far and Usman. Thus, Abdullah bin Abi Mahl bin Hizam bin Khalid bin Rabi’ah bin Waheed bin Ka’ab bin Amir bin Kilab said, “May Allah rectify (the affairs for) the chief! Our nephews are along with Hussain, then if you deem fit, write down a document of security for them.” Ubayd-Allah said, “Very well”, then he ordered his scribe to write down the document of security for them.

Abdullah sent the letter to [[Karbala]] with one of his retainer named Kirman with the message that, “Your uncle (Abdullah bin Abi Mahl) has sent this document of security for you.” The youth replied, “Convey our greetings to our uncle and tell him that we are in no need of his security. Verily Allah’s security is better than that of the son of Sumayyah.”

Shimr brought the letter of Ubayd-Allah to Umar bin Sa’d. When Umar read it, he said, “Woe be upon you! What have you brought? May your house be ruined! May it be evil whatever you have brought me! By Allah! I know that you must have prevented him from doing that what I had written to him. And you have spoilt the matter, which could result in peace. By Allah! Hussain will not submit, for he has a noble soul.”

Shimr said, “So now tell me, what do you intend doing? Will you obey the orders of the chief and fight his enemy? If not, then hand over the charge to me.” Umar replied, “No, you shall not have this honor and you shall not get this position. I myself shall undertake this task and you shall be the commander of the foot soldiers.”

Thus Umar bin Sa’d proceeded towards Imam Hussain on Thursday the night of the ninth of [[Muharram]] with his army.