Fatimah's son

He raised his voice and called out,
“Is there any one to defend us? Is there anyone to help us?”
His call had its effect on his son Ali al-Asghar, who was six months old. The child fell out of his cradle in response to Imam Hussein’s call for help. This caused a great commotion among the women, who feared that the infant was about to die out of the three day’s thirst. The commotion and wailing attracted Imam Hussein who returned to the camps. He took the child and covered him with a cloth to protect him from the scorching sun. He brought the child into the battlefield. The enemy soldiers assumed that the Imam was holding the Qur’an in his hand as a prelude to surrender. . .When Imam Hussein lifted the cloth, the soldiers gasped with surprise to see an infant. The infant smiled as if taunting the enemy in the face of adversity....

Imam Hussein told the surrounding army:

“On account of you, this child has gone without water for the past three days and you can see that the extreme thirst will kill him shortly. Is there anyone who would provide water to this child?”


Several enemy soldiers were moved by the sight and a murmur of sympathy was heard. Umar ibn Sa’d realized the seriousness of the situation and said, “Beware my soldiers! Do not be beguiled by Hussein’s word. He is only tricking you into getting some water for himself. Even if Hussein gets only a sip, it will reinvigorate him and several of us will lose lives.”

Imam replied,

“I only seek water for the infant, whose condition and agony is before you. Since you fear that I may myself drink the water, I am placing this infant on the ground so that you may yourselves take the child and quench his thirst.”

The child, placed on the burning sand of Karbala, protruded its tongue as if to show the severity of the thirst. This act of the infant was so eloquent that it created great pathos and several of the enemy soldiers cried in grief. The eloquent gesture did not go unnoticed by Umar bin Sa’d who considered it to be much more powerful than all the eloquent sermons of Imam Hussein and all the martyrs. He therefore ordered Harmala to interrupt Imam Hussein’s words...

Harmala, who was renowned for the velocity and strength of his arrows. He commanded Harmala to kill the child with his arrow and thus to terminate the pathos created by Imam Hussein’s infant. Harmala’s arrow whizzed towards the child whom Imam Hussein held close to his chest.

The arrow slit the throat of the six-month child and pinned him to Imam Hussein’s ribs and arms. Imam collected in his
palm the dripping blood from the child’s throat, looked towards the sky and then downwards towards the earth, and finally applied it to his own face.

Peace be upon the oppressed one who was without a helper...