Imam Hasan (a.s.) was extremely good-looking, possessed great forbearance and generosity, and was very kind and affectionate towards the members of his family. After the martyrdom of Imam Ali (a.s.), Mua’wiyah, for a period of ten years, embarked upon a mission of hatred, deception and enmity with respect to Imam Hasan (a.s.). He subjected the Imam (a.s.) to harm and injury on several occasions, but did not achieve anything. He therefore resolved to use the Imam’s wife Jo’dah, the daughter of Asha’th Ibn Qais, to poison him.
Mua’wiyah lured her by promising her that if she poisoned Hasan Ibn Ali, he would give her a hundred thousand dirhams and, in addition, he would marry her to his son Yazid. In the hope of acquiring wealth and with the aspiration of becoming the wife of Yazid, she agreed to comply with his request. Mua’wiyah handed her the poison that he had acquired from the Roman Emperor.
On a very hot day, Imam Hasan (a.s.) had observed a fast. At the time of Iftaar, the Imam (a.s.) was extremely thirsty. Jo’dah brought him a drink of milk in which she had mixed the poison.
As soon as Imam drank the milk, he experienced the effect of the poison. He realized what had happened and cried out aloud: Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi raajiu’n. After praising God that he would now be moving from the ephemeral world towards the eternal world, he turned towards Jo’dah and said to her:
“O’ Enemy of God! You have killed me, may God kill you! By God, you shall not come to acquire the slightest of that which you hope and aspire for. That person has deceived you. May Allah humiliate you and him by means of His chastisement!”
The forbearance of Imam Hasan (a.s.) can be gauged from the fact that when Imam Husain (a.s.) sought to know the identity of his murderer, Imam Hassan (a.s.) refused to divulge Jo’dah’s name.
According to one tradition, for two days (and according to another, for forty days), the Imam suffered from the ill effects of the poison, till eventually, on the 28th of Safar 50 A.H., he bid farewell to this material world at the age of 48 years.
As for Jo’dah, she carried her hopes and desires to her grave for Mua’wiyah reasoned that if she could not be faithful to Hasan Ibn Ali (a.s.), how could she be expected to be faithful to Yazid; and so he refused to fulfil any of his promises. As such, she died in a state of disgrace and humiliation ( Muntahal Aa’maal, vol. 1, pg. 231. )