How could you be so low?

When the soldiers of ‘Umar ibn S’ad got onto their mounts and readied themselves for battle with the Eminent Lord of the Martyrs peace be upon him, the Eminent one sent Burair ibn Khudhair to preach to the soldiers.

No matter how much Burair advised them, they didn’t listen. As much as he reprimanded and reproached them, they gained nothing from it.

At that point the Eminent Imam Husain himself, peace be upon him, mounted his camel (some say that he mounted his horse). He asked them to be silent, and when they were quiet he began his speech

He praised and glorified Allah; glorifying all sources of the greatness and Majesty of the Eminent Truth (Allah). He sent his salutations to Muhammad and the angels and prophets and messengers of Allah, going to great length to express these matters fully and completely in his speech.

Then he said:

Oh, you who are gathered here! Loss and annihilation be upon you! May poverty, misery, and sorrow be your lot as well! You invited me to come to your rescue with such excitement and frenzy and when we rushed to your rescue all the swords which belonged to us and which we placed in your hands have been unsheathed and drawn against us.

And that same fire and fury which had been kindled against my enemy and yours, has now been flamed against me. You have joined sides with your enemies, in order to beat down and your friends. Even though those enemies have not established justice amongst you, and you have no hope to see any good come from them.

So, May calamities and ignominy besiege you!

Why didn’t you let me be, while the swords were still in their sheaths, and the hearts were calm, and the decision to kill me had not yet been firmly made?! Rather like a swarm of locusts you are flying toward sedition and insurrection! And you have come together like a swarm of moths around the fire of discord.

Then, may devastation and annihilation come upon you, oh servants of the masses, you who have been rejected and distanced from groups and communities, you who have rejected the book of Allah, you who have distorted the words of Allah, you the clan that commits and creates sin, you who are the breath and spittle of the Devil, you, who extinguish the customs and norms of the Lord! Do you help and aid this group, leaving me abandoned, alone, and afflicted with this disaster!