Lineage of Light: The First Passage of Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ and the Eternal Salām to Imām Ḥusayn (a)

The First Passage of the Ziyarah

Peace be upon you, O Aba ‘Abdillah, Peace be upon you, O son of the Messenger of Allah, Peace be upon you, O son of the Commander of the Faithful and the son of the master of the successors, Peace be upon you, O son of Fāṭimah, the leader of the women of the worlds, Peace be upon you, O vengeance of Allah and son of His vengeance, the solitary martyred one, Peace be upon you and upon the souls who settled in your courtyard, May Allah’s peace be upon you all from me, forever, for as long as I remain and as long as night and day endure.

Mentioning the Prophet ^(p), the Commander of the Faithful ^(a), and Lady Fatimah ^(a)

The ziyarah begins with greetings to Imām Ḥusayn ^(a), deliberately highlighting his belonging to the Messenger of Allah, Amir al-Mu’minin, and Sayyidah Fatimah (peace and blessing upon them all). This reference is not simply about lineage.

While the bloodline itself is noble and undeniable, the deeper point is that Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) is a direct extension of these exalted figures, sharing in their wilayah, divine rank, moral excellence, infallibility, knowledge, and virtues. He was raised by the Messenger of Allah ^(p), who served as his first teacher and mentor. The Prophet ^(p) said: “My Lord disciplined me, and He perfected my discipline.”¹ Thus, Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) was refined with Allah’s own ethics through the Prophet ^(p). He is, in character and mercy, a reflection of the Messenger ^(p), who was described as a “mercy to the worlds.”

Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) himself said about his son ‘Ali al-Akbar ^(a): “... the most similar of all people in appearance, character, and speech to Your Messenger. Whenever we longed to see Your Prophet, we would look at his face ...”² This shows the purity of his lineage continued through his children, particularly the infallibles ^(a). If ‘Ali al-Akbar ^(a) bore this resemblance, then what of Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) himself?

Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) is the son of Amir al-Mu’minin ^(a), the champion of faith and the fountainhead of divine virtues. In his school, He learned courage, chivalry, and honor. For instance, at the Battle of Siffin, when the army of Mu‘awiyah blocked access to the river to starve Imam ‘Ali ^(a)’s troops, Imam ‘Ali ^(a) retaliated, regained access, but allowed Mu‘awiyah’s army to drink. Similarly, at Karbala, when Imām Ḥusayn's ^(a) caravan passed a spring near Shuraf, he ensured his companions drank and filled their waterskins. Soon after, they encountered Hurr’s army, parched under the scorching sun, and Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) ordered his men to quench their thirst and water their horses. This was the lofty morality, taught in the school of Imam Ali ^(a). Yet those very same opponents, save for Hurr, later denied Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) and his family access to the Euphrates and even killed his infant son in thirst. This stark contrast between the two camps illustrates the heights of virtue and depths of depravity.

Thus, when we say "Peace be upon you, O son of the Commander of the Faithful," we are declaring: Peace be upon you, O son of all virtues, O manifestation of divine mercy in both yourself and your father.

Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) is also the son of the leader of all women, the beloved of the Prophet ^(p), Lady Fatimah ^(a), who he called “a part of me.” She was his very essence, a second soul in another body. She is the Kawthar, the mother of her father, and the channel through which the noble lineage of the Prophet ^(p) continues. It is in her lap that Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) was raised, the same lap that served as refuge for the Messenger of Allah ^(p). His honor lies in being her son, the link between Prophethood and Imamate.

If environment and genetics shape the identity of a person, then Imām Ḥusayn's ^(a) identity is divine in both lineage and upbringing. Even his enemies recognized this. After killing Imām Ḥusayn ^(a), Sinan ibn Anas ³ said to Ibn Ziyad:

Fill my saddlebag with silver and gold, For I have killed the noble master, The best of men in both mother and father.

Summary

The mention of the Prophet ^(p), Imam ‘Ali ^(a), and Lady Fatimah ^(a) at the beginning of the ziyarat serves to:

• Highlight Imām Ḥusayn's ^(a) lineage, which reflects his greatness.
• Demonstrate his character by showing the school from which he emerged.
• Prepare the reader, as later parts of the ziyarah introduce the opposing camp’s lineage, making the contrast between both groups crystal clear.

An assault on Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) is an assault on the Prophet ^(p), Imam ‘Ali ^(a), and Lady Fatimah ^(a). The hooves that trampled his chest also trampled theirs. This explains the severity of the tragedy described in this ziyarah as “a calamity the likes of which is unmatched in all of Islam, the heavens, and the earth.”

Imām Ḥusayn’s confrontation was the confrontation of all virtue against all vice.

O vengeance of Allah and son of His vengeance, the solitary martyred one

Al-Witr (the solitary one) means the one who is singular in beauty. From this, the last rak‘ah of the Night Prayer is called Witr because it is odd-numbered. It is the adornment of the believer in the Hereafter, it brightens his face and increases his light and splendor. And is there any beauty greater than a servant standing before his Lord at the time of sahar (pre-dawn), seeking His forgiveness, repenting to Him, and intimately conversing with Him?

Al-Witr here refers to Imām Ḥusayn ^(a), the manifestation of Allah’s beauty on earth, who fulfilled his divine duty in the most complete and beautiful way and attained the highest and most beautiful badge of honor: martyrdom, rather, the title Master of Martyrs. From this, a dimension of Lady Zaynab’s ^(a) gnostic and passionate statement becomes unveiled: “I saw nothing but beauty.” For Lady Zaynab ^(a), in Karbala, was looking at the beauty of Imām Ḥusayn’s ^(a) face, which, as reported in the narration, the more calamities and wounds he endured on the day of Ashura, the more his face radiated with light and beauty. And here is one of the murderers describing Imām Ḥusayn's ^(a) condition after he was struck by arrows, swords, and spears, and fell to the ground. He said:

I emerged between the two lines [of battle] and stood over him while he was breathing his last. By Allah, I have never seen a man covered in his own blood who looked more beautiful or whose face was more radiant than him. The light of his face and the beauty of his appearance distracted me from thinking about killing him. ⁴

Indeed, Zaynab ^(a) was looking at the manifestation of Allah’s beauty on earth, and that was Imām Ḥusayn ^(a), the unique Witr in beauty during both his life and his martyrdom.

Al-Mawtūr is one whose relative has been killed, but he has not yet avenged the blood. And the one whose blood we are speaking about here is not like any other blood. It is the blood through which truth shall ultimately and decisively triumph over falsehood, so that Allah’s promise of supporting the believers is fulfilled and the final outcome belongs to the God-conscious. As a result, this blood will be avenged by Imam Mahdi ^(aj) at the end of time. Whoever is among the supporters of the Imam ^(aj) is among those who shall witness the avenging of this blood.

This blood holds such magnitude that the one who takes revenge for it is Allah Himself, and its only equivalent blood-money (diyyah) is Allah, the Exalted. This is a unique distinction reserved for Imam ‘Ali ^(a) and his sons (peace be upon them), as stated by His Eminence, Ayatollah Jawadi Amoli.

From here, we say: "O vengeance of Allah, and son of His vengeance", for Allah is the One who shall avenge the blood of Imām Ḥusayn ^(a). This blood is so precious that no reparation can match it except the meeting with Allah (Glorious and Exalted). This is what Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) desired, and so it was.

There is a narration from our Imam Sadiq ^(a):

“I heard my father say: When al-Ḥusayn ^(a) met ‘Umar ibn Sa‘d (la) and the battle began, Allah, the Exalted, sent down victory so that it hovered above the head of Ḥusayn ^(a). Then he was given the choice between victory over his enemies and the meeting with Allah, and he chose the meeting with Allah.” ⁵

Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) chose the meeting with Allah, and thus Allah, Exalted be He, became the avenger of his blood. We learn from Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) that our rising must be solely for Allah, including even the pursuit of victory. For if the objective is Allah, then you are victorious no matter the outcome. As the great Imam Khomeini (ra) said:

“Whether we kill or are killed, we have fulfilled our duty.”

The Souls in Your Courtyard

They are the souls of the martyrs who fulfilled their covenant and were martyred alongside Imām Ḥusayn ^(a). They settled in the courtyard of Imām Ḥusayn ^(a); for the owner of the house is Imām Ḥusayn ^(a), and these martyrs entered this house and became part of it.

Imām Ḥusayn’s Paradise is the meeting with Allah, and those martyrs, their Paradise is to be with Imām Ḥusayn ^(a). That is why on the night of the tenth of Muharram, when Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) unveiled to Habib ibn Muthahir (ra) his place in Paradise, Habib wept and asked: “Am I with you in Paradise?”

And when we realize that Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) attained the highest rank and station, the meeting with Allah, then those martyrs are in the same station as Imām Ḥusayn ^(a).

And if Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) is the manifestation of the Name of Allah, then meeting him is a meeting with Allah. Therefore, those martyrs are in the same station with Imām Ḥusayn ^(a), and their names have become bound to the name of Imām Ḥusayn ^(a). Every time Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) is mentioned, they are mentioned; and every time we send peace upon Imām Ḥusayn ^(a), we send peace upon them as well.

And it is not unlikely that the term souls includes the souls of all martyrs who are martyred on the path of truth and upon the path of Imām Ḥusayn ^(a), as well as the saints (awliya’), the scholars, and the servants of Abu ‘Abdillah al-Ḥusayn ^(a), and even the angels who are lined in ranks around his noble grave.

Everlasting Peace Upon Them

It becomes clear to us that sending peace upon Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) entails sending peace upon all his family and companions as well. At this point, we must reflect on an important matter: that life (or age) can be understood in three forms:

1. The lifespan of the entire universe.
2. The lifespan of people and human communities across different eras.
3. The lifespan of each individual human being.

So when we say: "Upon all of you, from me, be the peace of Allah, for as long as I remain [alive]...", it means: Throughout all my lifetime, as long as I am alive, you have my peace. And when we say: "...and as long as night and day remain...", it means: for as long as this universe continues and persists, in other words, until the Day of Resurrection.

This eternal and continuous greeting of peace from us upon them is, first of all, the least we can offer* as an act of gratitude to Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) and his companions, for the immense rights they have upon us.

It also establishes a constant connection between us and Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) and his cause. And this connection is what prepares us to become among the supporters of the Imam Mahdi ^(aj).

Perhaps the phrase: "as long as night and day remain" also implies that we continue to send peace upon Imām Ḥusayn ^(a) even after our death, which may be an allusion to the concept of Raj‘ah (return to life): that we are asking Allah to make us among those who return with Imam Mahdi ^(aj) and take revenge for Imām Ḥusayn ^(a).