8. He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad ibn Imran al-Marzbani reported from Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Jawhari, who reported from Muhammad ibn Mahran, who reported from Musa ibn Abdul Rehman al-Masrooq, from Umar ibn Abdul Wahid, from Ismail ibn Rashid who reported from Hazlam ibn Sateer, who said: I arrived at Kufa in Muharram of 61 Hijrah as ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn was departing with the ladies from Kerbala, surrounded by the troops. People gathered to have a sight of them. When he approached with the ladies sitting on unsaddled camels, the women of Kufa began weeping and wailing. I heard ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn say with a feeble voice as he was exhausted by ailment, and around his neck was a neckband, and his hands were tied to the neck. He said: "Beware, (if) these women are indeed weeping - then who killed us?" He said: And I saw Zainab bint ‘Ali, peace be upon them, and I had never seen a lady with all her modesty being so eloquent. It seemed that she spoke in Amirul Mu’mineen’s voice." He said: She raised her hand towards the people to silence them, so the breathing slowed and the noises were silenced. Then she said: "All praise be to Allah; and His blessing on my father, the messenger of Allah. Know you O people of Kufa, O people of chicanery and betrayal. May your tears never dry, and may your wailing never quieten. Your example is of ’the one who unravels her yarn after it is firmly spun. You take your oaths merely to deceive one another.’ (16:98). O people! Are there any among you except those suffering from vainglory, blemished by disgrace, and with bosoms full of hatred? Cowards when confronted, helpless before the enemies, violators of oath of allegiance, wasting the responsibilities? Miserable is what you have forwarded, that has incurred the wrath of Allah upon you. And you will be in chastisement forever. So, you are crying? Yes, cry a lot, and laugh a little for you have earned its disgrace and its infamy; and you will never be able to wash off the filth stuck to you. You have forsaken and intrigued against the scion of the seal of the Prophet-hood, master of the youths of Paradise, refuge of your chosen ones, retreat for the calamities befalling you, landmark to your destination, the highway of your Proof. How evil is the burden you bear? Wretched be you and reversed be your plans! The effort has failed, and hands are full of nothing but dust, and the bargain has sustained a loss. You are laden with the wrath of Allah, and humiliation and abasement has been stamped upon you. Woe unto you! Do you know which liver of Muhammad have you torn apart, and which blood have you spilled? And which nobility have you struck? ’Indeed you have come up with a thing abominable and shocking. From which, the heavens are about to be rent asunder, the earth split and the mountains fallen to pieces.’ (19:89,90). What you have committed is foolishness and degradation enough to fill the heavens and the earth! Are you then surprised if the heavens rain blood? ’And the chastisement of the hereafter is even more degrading.’ (41:16). So do not take these moments of respite lightly - for He is not prompted by haste nor is it feared that He will miss the reprised. No! ’Your Lord is ever observant.’ (89:14)." He said: Then she was silent. And I saw people bewildered, their hands on their mouths, and I saw an old man weeping till his beard was drenched and he said: "Their elderly are the best among the elderly people and their progeny, when any progeny is taken into account, is never wrong, nor discredited."