Selected Sermons of Ahl-ul-Bayt in Muharram

Ibn Tawuus wrote in al-Luhuf (p. 90):

Ibn Ziyad said, “How have you seen what God has done to your brother and family?”

She replied,

I have seen nothing but grace!

They were a people upon whom God wrote murder, so they set out to their resting places.

Surely, God will bring you together with them, and you shall be their foe and adversary. So wait and see who will be triumphant on that day! May your mother greive for you, O’ son of Marjana!

Ibn Ziyad grew angry when she spoke like that in public. He moved as if to strike her, but Amr ibn Huraith said, “O’ governor, she is only a woman and women cannot be taken seriously in their words or punished for their mistakes.”

Ibn Ziyad then turned to her and said, “God has cooled my heart [by the death of] your tyrant al-Hussain (a) and the seditious rabble of his household!” At that, Lady Zaynab’s was moved to tears and said,

Truly, you have killed my elders, [imprisoned] my family, cut off my branches, and uprooted my foundation! If this is what satisfies you, then be merry!

Ibn Ziyad said, “Surely she is a taleteller, just as her father was a taleteller and poet.” She replied,

What does a woman need with taletelling? Surely, I am occupied beyond taletelling! But my heart burst at what you said.