A child who was not more than thirteen years old, sat in a comer of the
tent. He doubted whether he was included among those who were going
to be martyred. The Imam had said that all those who had gathered at that
place were going to be martyred the next day. However, the child was a
minor and this statement of Imam (a.s.) would have been only for adults.
Thus, he asked the Imam, “O uncle! Does my name appear in the list of
those who are going to be martyred tomorrow?”
It is recorded that the Imam cried much on hearing this question. He did
not give any reply to Qasim. Imam (a.s.) said, “Son! Please answer my
question first. Then I would answer your question. Tell me, how is death
in your view?”
Qasim said, “O uncle! Death is sweeter than honey for me. If you say that
I would get martyred tomorrow, it would be great news for me.”
Imam (a.s.) said, “Yes son, but only after you have borne a great calamity.”
Qasim said, “Praise be to Allah! A great catastrophe is going to happen.”
O mourners of the oppressed one of Kerbala!
Armors were made only in adult sizes and even the helmets
wouldn’t fit the heads of children. The child requested, “Uncle dear! Now
it’s my turn to go. Please permit me.” It should be remembered that no
soldier went to the battlefield without the Imam’s permission on Ashura
day. Everybody used to first salute him, “Peace be upon you, O Aba
Abdillah!” Then he used to say, “Master! Please give me permission.”
Imam Husain (a.s.) did not accord the permission to Qasim easily;
instead he began to weep on seeing Qasim. Qasim and Imam Husain
(a.s.) hugged each other and wept. It is written that Qasim started kissing
the hands and feet of Imam Husain (a.s.).7 Is it not worth that history
should take this into consideration and judge in a better way about the
Kerbala tragedy? That child was insisting but Imam Husain (a.s.) did not
permit. Even though Imam Husain (a.s.) wanted to allow him, but his
tongue did not let him give the permission. Then spreading his hands he
said, “O reminder of my brother! Come, let me embrace and bid farewell
to you.” Qasim put his arms around Husain (a.s.) and the uncle held the
nephew in embrace. It is written: After that the two of them cried so much
that they lost consciousness. (The companions and Ahle Bayt of Imam
Husain (a.s.) were watching this sorrowful scene). Then they separated
from each another and Qasim quickly mounted the horse and departed
for the battlefield.
“I am the son of Hasan.”
A narrator from Umar bin Saad’s army narrates that all of a sudden he
saw a child astride a horse coming towards them. He wore a turban
It is written in Kerbala narratives: “The child kissed the hands and feet of the Imam
until he was granted permission.”
instead of a helmet and sported normal shoes instead of the thonged ones
worn during battles. “He looked like a piece of the moon” – that is he
was extremely handsome. Then the narrator says: As Qasim came to the
battlefield I saw that tears were flowing from his eyes.
In accordance with custom of Arabs, every soldier was supposed to
introduce himself after coming to the battlefield. Everybody was amazed
and no one knew who this child was. The child reached the battlefield and
loudly announced,
“O people! If you don’t me; I am the son of Hasan, the grandson of
Prophet Mustafa. And this is Husain whom you surrounded and
did not give even a sip of water from the flowing Euphrates.”
When Qasim went towards the battlefield. Imam Husain (a.s.) stood ready
holding the reins of his horse. It looked as if he was waiting to fulfill one
of his duties. I don’t know what the state of Imam Husain (a.s.) was. Imam
Husain (a.s.) waited. Perhaps he awaited the call of Qasim. Suddenly,
Qasim called out, “O uncle! Help me!” The narrator says that he could
not understand how quickly Imam Husain (a.s.) mounted the horse
and attacked the army. According to the narrator, Imam (a.s.) went to
battlefield like a swift hunter. The people present at the battlefield narrate
that Qasim fell from his horse and approximately two hundred horses
surrounded him. A person wanted to behead him. As soon as they saw
Imam Husain (a.s.) coming to the battlefield, they panicked and started
running hither and thither. In this process, the person who had come
forward to behead Qasim got crushed under the horses’ hooves. The
enemy soldiers were so terrified that they selfishly crushed one of their
fellow soldiers alive in order to save themselves. There was a huge crowd.
Horses galloped fast and nothing was visible due to the dust that arose.
As Firdausi says,
“In the expanse of that desert, the hooves of horses divided the
earth into six parts and the sky into eight.”
Now the condition of Qasim was such that he was thrashing his feet due
to the severe pain in his last moments. At that time, people heard Imam
Husain (a.s.) saying, “By God! How unbearable it is for your uncle that
you called him for help and but when he reached you he could not do
anything for you.
Biharul Anwar, Vol. 44, Pg. 393; Mausuat-e-Kalimat al-Imam al-Husain, Pg. 403.
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