Al-Hosayn, On
The Other Hand, Was Slain And Decapitated At Kerbela.
According to the
Shi’ahs, Zayn al-Abidin obtained from Yazid, after a space of forty days,
his father’
S head, and carried it back to Kerbela, for which reason the
event is known to the Persians as “Chilleyeh sar o tan,” the “forty days of
(separation between) the head and trunk.” They vehemently deny that the
body lies at Kerbela, and the head at Cairo. Others, again, declare
that Al-Hosayn’s head was sent by Yazid to Amir bin al-As, the governor
of Al-Madinah, and was by him buried near Fatimah’s Tomb. Nor are they
wanting who declare, that after Yazid’s death the head was found in his
treasury, and was shrouded and buried at Damascus. Such is the
uncertainty which hangs over the early history of Al-Islam[.]
[FN#28] The names of the fifth and sixth Imams, Mohammed al-Bakia and
Ja’afar al-Sadik, were omitted by Hamid, as doubtful whether they are
really buried here or not.
[FN#29] Moslem historians seem to delight in the obscurity which hangs
over the lady’s last resting-place, as if it were an honour even for the
receptacle of her ashes to be concealed from the eyes of men. Some
place her in the Harim, relying upon this tradition: “Fatimah, feeling
about to die, rose up joyfully, performed the greater ablution, dressed
herself in pure garments, spread a mat upon the floor of her house near
the Prophet’s Tomb, lay down fronting the Kiblah, placed her hand under
her cheek, and said to her attendant, “I am pure and in a pure dress; now
let no one uncover my body, but bury me where I lie!” When Ali returned
he found his wife dead, and complied with her last wishes.
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