Tasliyyah al-Majalis wa Zaina al-Majalis (Book)

Tasliyyah al-Majalis wa Zaina al-Majalis

Author	Muhammad bin Abi Talib Husseini Mousavi Haeri Keraki
Original title	تسلیه المجالس و زینه المجالس الموسوم بمقتل الحسین علیه السلام
Language	Arabic

Tasliyyah al-Majalis wa Zaina al-Majalis (English: Consoling of the assemblies and embellishing of assemblies), which is also known as Maqtal al-Hussein (P.B.U.H) is a book about the incidents and events of Karbala.  

About the author

Muhammad bin Abi Talib Husseini Mousavi Haeri Keraki is one of the unknown scholars of the 9th and 10th centuries born in Kerak of Sham. There is no information about the date of his birth and death, but since he mentions the pilgrimage to the Prophet's shrine in the year 921 AH in this book, it is assumed that he wrote the book after this date. Also, in another place of the same book, he mentions his other book entitled Al-Saj' Al-Nafis, which according to Agha Bozorg Tehrani in Al-Dhari'a, was written in 955 AH, and therefore, the date of writing Tasliyyah al-Majalis was after this year. As he described in his book, he lived in Damascus for a while and expressed his displeasure at living in the place of the enemies of Ahl al-Bayt, and later moved to Karbala. Haeri also had a literary talent and a poetry book. He included some of his poems in this book.

About the book

This book has been referred to under the following titles:

1. Tasliyyah al-Majalis
2. Zaina al-Majalis
3. Tasliyyah al-Majalis wa Zaina al-Majalis
4. Maqtal al- Imam al-Hussein (P.B.U.H)

However, as the author has stated at the beginning of the book, the title of the book is Tasliyyah al-Majalis wa Zaina al-Majalis, and just a part of its subject is dedicated to a Maqtal of Imam Hussain. Some people have thought that the author has written two books with the titles “Tasliyyah al-Majalis” and “Zaina al-Majalis ", which is a wrong idea.

Tasliyyah al-Majalis wa Zaina al-Majalis is a historical-narrative book and has been widely used by the Majlisi in Bihar al-Anwar. The importance of this book is due to its content and the hadiths of the Infallible Imams.

Abstract of chapters

The book’s content is written in Arabic in 2 volumes divided into ten chapters. The first four chapters are about the life of the Prophet, Imam Ali and Imam Hassan Mojtaba, and the rest of the chapters are about Imam Hussein. Therefore, six chapters out of the ten chapters, which are more than one volume and most of its content are in the second volume, are dedicated to Imam Hussain. As a result, this book is not only about Imam Hussein, but since its content begins with a discussion about him and most of the contents are also about him, it is also known as Maqtal al-Hussein.

• In the first chapter of the book, it is mentioned about crying over Imam Hussein and the fact that the lives of the prophets were mixed with calamities and hardships.
• The second chapter deals with the life of the Prophet relying on the companionship of Imam Ali with him.
• The third chapter describes the virtues of Imam Ali and a description of the events of his life and martyrdom, in addition to the moral and behavioral virtues of Fatima Zahra and her marriage with Ali.
• The fourth chapter is about Imam Hasan's life and his moral and behavioral virtues, as well as the issue of his peace with Muawiyah.
• The fifth chapter is about Imam Hussein’s moral and behavioral virtues as well as the Prophet's narrations about his martyrdom.
• The sixth chapter is devoted to the rise of Imam Hussein and his arrival in Mecca and the dispatching of Muslim bin Aqeel to Kufa.
• The seventh chapter is related to Imam's movement towards Kufa and reaching Karbala and the events during this journey and the martyrdom of the Imam and his companions.
• In the eighth chapter, the events after Ashura, such as sending the prisoners of Karbala to Kufa and Levant and their sermons, are discussed.
• The ninth chapter contains incoherent contents, including Imam Hussein’s injuries, narrations about his martyrdom, the afterlife reward for martyrdom, the caliphs' attack on Imam Hussein’s grave, and Mukhtar's uprising.

• The tenth chapter is dedicated to the divine reward of pilgrimaging of Imam Hussein.

In the beginning, the author mentions the book Rawdat al-Shuhada without specifying its name and says I have written this book like that. Nevertheless, the present book is not similar to Rawdah Al-Shuhada in terms of format. Of course, the author's emphasis on the life of religious leaders mixed with calamity is influenced by Rawdat al-Shuhada, and its prose is also eloquent and smooth.

Thanks to the efforts of Khoi scholars, the original copy of this book has been saved from distortions and is now kept in the Library of Khoi Namazi School under ID number 459. This book was published by Faris Hassoun Karim in Qom, by the Islamic Encyclopedia Foundation.