Saturday, January 10, 2009

The First and Second Places (or Manzils): Saffah and Dhatul-Irq



There are 14 geographical sites or places or (Manazils as in Arabic) where the Imam was known to have passed during this journey to Karbala which takes no 15.



The First Place (or Manzil): Saffah


The first place (or manzil) was called Saffah. Here the Imam stayed for the night. The next morning when he was preparing to leave for his next Manzil that he met the famous poet Farazdaq who was coming from Iraq and was going to Makka for pilgrimage. When he learnt that Imam was proceeding for Iraq he tried to persuade him not to go there. Imam asked Farazdaq about the conditions in Kufa and the poet replied," Peoples hearts are with you but their swords are against you." Imam told him, "Allah does what he wishes, I leave it to Him who proposes the just cause". Farazdaq left the place for Makka and Imam's caravan proceeded towards its next Manzil.


The 2nd Place (or Manzil): Dhatul-Irq


The 2nd Manzil was Dhatul-Irq. Here the Imam stayed the night. Here he met Abdullah Ibn Jaafar who was Imam's cousin and husband of his sister Zainab. Abdullah brought his two sons Aun and Muhammad to accompany the Imam. Abdullah also tried to persuade the Imam to postpone his journey and return to Madina. But Imam replied," my destiny is in the hands of Allah" These words which mention his destiny were repeated at many places during this journey and clearly indicate that he had a mission in his mind and he was proceeding towards that mission without fail.




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