Sermon of Zaynab in Kufa
Sermon of Zaynab in Kufa is a speech delivered by Zayab to people of Kufa. After the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, women and children were taken in captivity. When the caravan of captives entered Kufa, people gathered to see the caravan. In this sermon, Zaynab admonished the people of Kufa for breaking their promises to Imam Hussain and failed to support the Imam.
The Sermon
The daughter of the Commander of the Faithful explained to people, Ibn Ziyad’s villainy and meanness in a speech which she delivered to them. When she signaled to them to calm down, they did. They stood speechless and motionless, and even the bells of their animals stopped ringing. It was then that she, calm and composed and with courage reminiscent of that of her father Haider addressed them saying:
یقول الراوی : لمّا أومأت زینب ابنة علی (ع) إلى النّاس ، فسکنت الأنفاس والأجراس ، فعندها اندفعت بخطابها مع طمأنینة نفس وثبات جأش ، وشجاعة حیدریّة ، فقالت (ص) لوات الله علیها: الحمد لله والصلاة على أبی محمّد وآله الطیّبین الأخیار .
أمّا بعد ، یا أهل الکوفة ، یا أهل الختل والغدر ، أتبکون ؟! فلا رقأت الدمعة ، ولا هدأت الرنّة ، إنّما مثَلکم کمثَل التی نقضت غزلها من بعد قوّة أنکاثاً ، تتّخذون أیمانکم دخلاً بینکم ، ألا وهل فیکم إلاّ الصلف النطف والعجب والکذب والشنف وملق الإماء، وغمز الأعداء؟! أو کمرعى على دمنة أو کقصّة على ملحودة، ألا بئس ما قدّمتْ لکم أنفسکم أنْ سخط الله علیکم ، وفی العذاب أنتم خالدون .
أتبکون وتنتحبون ؟! إی والله فابکوا کثیراً ، واضحکوا قلیلاً ؛ فلقد ذهبتم بعارها وشنارها ، ولن ترحضوها بغسل بعدها أبداً ، وأنّى ترحضون قتْل سلیل خاتم النبوّة ومعدن الرسالة ، ومدرة حجّتکم ومنارمحَجّتکم ، وملاذ خیرتکم ومفزع نازلتکم ، وسیّد شباب أهل الجنّة ، ألا ساء ما تزرون .
فتعساً و نکساً وبُعداً لکم وسحقاً ، فلقد خاب السّعی وتبّت الأیدی ، وخسرت الصفقة ، وبؤتم بغضب من الله ورسوله ، وضُربت علیکم الذلّة والمسکنة. ویلکم یا أهل الکوفة ، أتدرون أیّ کبد لرسول الله فریتم ؟ وأیّ کریمة له أبرزتم ؟ وأیّ دم له سفکتم ؟ وأیّ حرمة له انتهکتم ؟ لقد جئتم شیئاً إدّاً ، تکاد السّموات یتفطّرن منه ، وتنشقّ الأرض ، وتخرّ الجبال هدّاً . ولقد أتیتم بها خرقاء شوهاء کطلاع الأرض وملء السّماء .
أفعجبتم أنْ مطرت السّماء دماً ولعذاب الآخرة أخزى وهم لا یُنصرون ، فلا یستخفنّکم المهل ، فإنّه لا یحفزه البدار، ولا یخاف فوت الثار ، وإنّ ربّکم لَبِالمرصاد.
All Praise is due to Allah. Peace and blessings be upon my father Muhammad and upon his good and righteous Progeny. May the resounding [of this calamity] never stops. Your similitude is one who unspins what is already spun out of the desire to violate [a trust]. You make religion a source of your income... Is there anyone among you who is not a boaster of what he does not have, a charger of debauchery, a conceited liar, a man of grudge without any justification, one submissive like bondmaids, an instigater, a pasture of what is not wholesome, a reciter of a story to someone buried? Truly bad is that which your souls have committed. You have reaped the Wrath of Allah, remaining in the chastisement for eternity. Do you really cry and sob?
By Allah, you should then cry a great deal and laugh very little, for you have earned nothing but shame and infamy, and you shall never be able to wash it away, and how could you do so? The descendant of the Bearer of the Last Message, the very essence of the Message, the source of your security and the beacon of your guidance, the refuge of the righteous from among you, the one who saves you from calamity, the Master of the Youths of Paradise... is killed. O how horrible is the sin that you bear...! Miserable you are and renegades from the path of righteousness; may you be distanced and crushed. The effort is rendered futile, the toil is ruined, the deal is lost, and you earned nothing but Wrath from Allah and His Messenger. You are doomed with servitude and humiliation.
Woe unto you, O Kufians! Do you know whose heart you have burned, what a "feat" you have laboured, what blood you have shed, and what sanctity you have violated? You have done a most monstrous deed, something for which the heavens are about to split asunder and so is the earth, and for which the mountains crumble. You have done something most uncanny, most defaced, as much as the fill of the earth and of the sky. Do you wonder why the sky rains blood? Surely the torment of the hereafter is a greater chastisement, and they shall not be helped. Let no respite elate you, for rushing does not speed it up, nor does it fear the loss of the opportunity for revenge. Your Lord is waiting in ambush for you.
Words of Imam Sajjad
Imam as-Sajjad said to her, "That is enough, O aunt, for you are, Praise to Allah, a learned lady whom none taught, one who comprehends without being made to do so." By these words of Imam al-Sajjad, Zaynab became calm and silent.