Sermon of Umm Kulthum in Kufa

Sermon of Umm Kulthum in Kufa is a speech delivered by Umm Kulthum, daughter of Imam Ali, after the caravan of captives reached Kufa.

Sermon

Sayyid Ibn Tawoos in his Malhoof quotes these sermons and then says that Umm Kulthum, the daughter of Imam Ali, bewailed from behind the curtain and said:

“O Kufans! May you face evil! Why did you refrain yourselves from rendering assistance to Hussain, why did you kill him? Why did you plunder his belongings and become its possessors? Why did you imprison his women-folk and suppress him? May you be ruined and uprooted! Woe be to you! Do you know what you have brought forth? And do you know what load of sin have you taken upon your backs? And what blood have you shed? And which women-folk have you taken as captives? And what children have to loot? And what belongings have you plundered? You have killed the best of men succeeding the Prophet, while mercy has departed away from your hearts.

Beware, verily the Party of Allah alone shall be the successful ones and verily the party of Shaitan are the losers .”

Then she retorted,

“You killed my brother, woe be upon you, you will surely be rewarded by the fire which burns eternally. You have shed the blood whose shedding was proclaimed to be unlawful by Allah, by the Qur’an and Muhammad, may you receive tidings of the fire where tomorrow you shall dwell eternally. I shall weep upon my brother all through my life, who was born as the best of creatures after the Prophet, the tears shall flow upon my cheeks similar to the flood and rain waters and shall never dry up.”

The Impact

It is said that people started weeping and wailing aloud. The women tore their hair and put sand upon their head. They scratched their faces and started beating them and saying, “Alas! Alas!” The men started weeping and pulled their beards. Never was such a wailing of men and women ever been seen before.

Source

• Shaykh 'Abbas Qummi, Nafasul Mahmum; Relating to the heart rending tragedy of Karbala'