Safoora & Tahoora & Saboora Daughters of Imam Hussain (a.s.)

Aba Abdillah (a.s.) instructed Lady Zaynab (a.s.) to watch over the children and to gather them after the attack on the tents. When that godless army, on horse and on foot, fell upon the tents to plunder them, Lady Zaynab (a.s.) sought instruction from Imam Sajjad (a.s.), and he ordered them to flee the tents. The children and the grieving, sorrowful women fled; some accounts record that they went towards the place of the slain. After this, Lady Zaynab (a.s.) set about gathering the children, and some were missing. They searched for them across the plain of Karbala, until they found two children who had died beneath a tree.

At that point the enemy set about burning the tents of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) while the women and children were still inside. They brought torches of fire, one of them crying out: "Burn the houses of the oppressors!" — and they cast fire into the tents. The daughters of the Messenger of God came out of the tents and fled while the fire pursued them from behind. Some of the orphaned children clutched at their aunt's garment to be sheltered from the fire and safe from the cruelty of the enemy; some scattered into the wilderness; and some pleaded for help from those tyrants whose hearts were empty of mercy and compassion. The enemy vied with one another in plundering the Husayni tents, to the point of pulling the head-coverings from the women. The daughters of the House of the Prophet came out of their quarters, all of them weeping and lamenting the loss of their loved ones and elders. Throughout his life after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (a.s.), whenever Imam Sajjad (a.s.) recalled the bitter memories of the day of Ashura, he would say with tears and deep grief: "By God, I never look at my aunts and sisters without a lump rising in my throat, and I remember those moments when they fled from tent to tent while the herald of the Kufan army cried out: burn the tents of these oppressors!"

Humayd ibn Muslim says: Umar ibn Sa'd came near the Imam's tents. The women rose, faced him, cried out and wept. So he said to his companions: "No one may enter the tents of these women, nor trouble this sick young man (Imam Sajjad)." The women asked him to return their plundered clothing so that they might cover themselves. Umar ibn Sa'd said: "Whoever has taken anything belonging to these women, let him return it." By God, not one of that company gave anything back. Umar ibn Sa'd then posted a group at the tents and quarters of the women and ordered them to guard them, so that none should leave the tents and none should harm them. Then Umar ibn Sa'd returned to his own tent.

The author of Ma'ali al-Sibtayn relates that on the evening of Ashura two children died from terror and thirst. When Zaynab al-Kubra searched to gather the family and the children she could not find those two, until she found them with their arms around each other's necks; they had passed from this world.

In al-Iqad it is related from the Maqtal of Ibn Arabi that two children of the Ahl al-Bayt died on the tenth day from extreme terror, fear and thirst. When Lady Zaynab (a.s.) gathered the women and children, two of the children were missing. Lady Zaynab (a.s.) searched for them until she found them asleep, holding one another in an embrace. When they moved the two children, they realised that they had died of thirst.

On the evening of the tenth day two children died of fear, terror and thirst. When Lady Zaynab (a.s.) gathered the women and children she could not find those two. She searched for them and saw them lying asleep with their arms around each other's necks; when she moved them, it became clear that they had departed this fleeting world from the severity of thirst.
When the soldiers learned of this they said to Ibn Sa'd: give us leave to bring them water.
But when water was brought to these dear ones, they would not drink and said: how shall we drink water when the son of the Messenger of God was killed with parched lips? (Ma'ali al-Sibtayn 2/53, from the Maqtal of Ibn al-Arabi; Shaykh Muhammad Hasan gives it in detail in Anwar al-Shahada, pp. 31–33, ch. 2.)
The late Ayatollah Birjandi says: it appears from the narration of Sayyid ibn Tawus that those defenceless women, seeing the tents filled with strangers, all raised their voices with "Wa Muhammada!" and "Wa Aliyya!" and set out barefoot towards the place of the slain.
In the Maqtal of Muhammad ibn Abdullah al-Ha'iri it is narrated that, since Imam Hussain (a.s.) had charged Zaynab (a.s.) with gathering and caring for his children, after the plundering of the tents Zaynab set about gathering the children who had scattered across the plains. She came upon two children who had died at the foot of a tree from fear of the enemy and from thirst.
This is supported by the tradition related in Bihar al-Anwar 44/308:
«یا موسی! صَغِیرُهُم یُمِیتُهُ العَطَشُ وَ کَبیرُهُم جِلدُهُ مُنکَمِشُ.»
"O Moses, their little ones die of thirst, and the skin of their grown ones is shrivelled."
However, these must be children other than those of Sayyid al-Shuhada (a.s.) himself.
After quoting the passage from the Maqtal of al-Ha'iri, the late Imami writes: Fadil Sabzawari in Tuhfat al-Husayniyya narrated from the Imam of the Age (may God hasten his reappearance) that:
When they wished to mount the Ahl al-Bayt for the journey, according to the registers one boy and one girl were missing.
Umar ibn Sa'd ordered the army to spread out; they did not find them. The accursed Shimr undertook the search and rode in every direction until he reached a tamarisk tree. He saw them asleep in its shade. That accursed one bent down from his horse and struck them several times with his whip; they did not move. He dismounted and struck their faces several times; still they did not move. He realised that both had left this world…
From the book al-Mukhtariyya of Shaykh Abu al-Futuh it appears that two small girls — one of Imam Hasan (a.s.) and one of Sayyid al-Shuhada (a.s.) — died from the sight of his body drenched in blood…
And Tuhfat al-Dhakirin of Kirmani and Lisan al-Wa'izin relate to this effect: when the tents were set on fire, twenty-three small children came out of them, trembling from severe thirst and fear.
One of the commanders of the army said to Umar ibn Sa'd: if you intend to take them to Yazid, not one of them will reach Damascus alive; order that they be given water, for they are perishing of thirst.

8 — The two lost children
Age: unknown. Lineage: unknown. Martyrdom: they were martyred as a result of terror and thirst.
The maqatil mention two children who, in the tumult of the battle, took shelter beneath a thorn bush and were martyred under it from severe thirst and fear.
After the plundering and burning of the tents, the stricken women and children scattered into the wilderness. Lady Zaynab (peace be upon her) gathered them, and on counting the children realised that two were missing. She called out to her sister Umm Kulthum: come and see, two children are missing.
The two grief-stricken sisters set out into the desert to find the children and searched everywhere, until at last they saw those two flowers of the Husayni garden beneath a bush of mughaylan thorn, asleep with their arms around each other's necks.
But when they came forward to lift those flowers from the ground and wake them, they were met with a sorrowful, heart-rending sight whose grief was very heavy to bear.

The author says: these two children were both thirsty on the day of Ashura and were martyred. But the apparent sense of this reliable tradition — which is a revelation of the Almighty to His interlocutor Moses — is that the children of Hussain (a.s.) died on the day of Ashura from severe thirst. That is, the cause of their martyrdom was essentially thirst rather than being slain, even though the killing of these two innocent children was itself bound up with thirst. Yet I know of these two children that they died of thirst on the day of Ashura and that no one inflicted any wound upon their bodies. This is what is narrated in the Maqtal of Ibn Arabi: that at the time of farewell, among the counsels Sayyid al-Shuhada gave to his sister Zaynab (a.s.) was this:
O sister, after I am killed they will burn my tents and my orphaned children will scatter across the desert. Be as a father to them and gather them.

وَإِنْ تَفَرَّقَتِ الْأَیْتَامُ فَابتدئی    بجْمَعْهَا فَالْجَزَاءُ فِی الْبَعْثِ غُفْرَانٌ
O sister, when my children scatter in the wilderness, gather them and be gentle with them, and your reward on the Day of Resurrection will be God's forgiveness.
وَاسْتَسْقِ مِنْ خُصَمکِ الْمَاءَ إِنْ شَکَتْ    عَطَشاً فَرُبَّمَا رَقَّ إِنَّ الشطّ مِلْآن
And ask water from the enemy for these orphaned children if they complain of thirst; perhaps the enemy will show them mercy, for the Euphrates is full of water.
Lady Zaynab (a.s.) says: after the martyrdom of the oppressed Imam, and after the plundering and burning of the tents, my brother Hussain's children scattered across the plain, each fleeing in a different direction from the malice of the oppressors. Because of my brother's counsel I wished to gather them, so I began to gather those orphaned children and the displaced captive women. After gathering them I noticed that two of my brother Hussain's children were not there. I searched for them in every direction and did not see them; my distress grew. I called my sister Umm Kulthum: O sister, my brother's two children are missing. Come, let us go to the place of the slain — perhaps they have gone to their father's body.
Zaynab says: we set out for the place of the slain and did not see them. I said: O sister, these two children were thirsty; perhaps they have gone to the bank of the Euphrates. Come, let us go to the Euphrates.
We came to the Euphrates, and however much we searched we did not see them, so we turned towards the wilderness. Zaynab came on weeping and calling to them, saying: my God, I do not know in which wilderness these two small children have perished, nor beneath the hooves of which horses they were trampled.
Zaynab (a.s.) says: I came to a hollow and saw a dark shape appear. When I drew near, I saw those two orphaned children fallen upon the hot sand, their arms around each other's necks, their delicate faces laid upon the sand and dust.
As soon as Zaynab (a.s.) saw this, she signalled to Umm Kulthum: come, O sister, I have found them — but softly, for they are sleeping and I fear they will wake. When Zaynab (a.s.) came forward she saw that their colour had turned pale, that they had wept so much that their tears had mixed with the dust, that dust had settled on their faces and entered their mouths, and that their eyes had sunk into their sockets.
Zaynab (a.s.) wished to lift them gently so that they would not wake, and to carry them to the Ahl al-Bayt. Suddenly she saw that their bodies had gone cold. She understood that they had left this world, perished from severe thirst, and bid farewell to this fleeting abode. So she took up the two children and went with them to Imam Zayn al-Abidin (a.s.) and the rest of the Ahl al-Bayt, and their grief was renewed; they began to weep and lament.
When this news reached some of the notables of the Banu Umayyah — may God curse them — they said to the accursed Umar ibn Sa'd: O Umar, you have done what you have done; but the family of Hussain (a.s.) bear no guilt and have come near to perishing from thirst, and two children have perished after the killing of Hussain (a.s.). Give us leave to carry them some water. That accursed one consented and ordered that several waterskins be filled and taken to the captive women and the captive orphaned children.
When the water was brought near the Ahl al-Bayt, one of the people of Kufa says: we called out to them: O family of Hussain, we have brought water for you; come and take it from us.
As soon as those children heard the word "water" they turned away into the wilderness and said:
«کَیفَ نَسْقِی وَقُتِلَ ابْنُ رَسُولِ‌اللهِ عَطْشَاناً.»
How shall we drink water when our father was martyred thirsty beside the Euphrates?
That man says: my heart burned greatly, for I saw those children weeping from severe thirst and collapsing from weakness, then rising again and going out towards the desert, and they would not take the water from us. So we took the water back and reported the matter to Umar ibn Sa'd; that accursed one gave no answer and ordered that they be taken captive.
And in one narration the children of Sayyid al-Shuhada (a.s.) were ten: six sons and four daughters; and of these two children who perished from severe thirst, one was a boy and the other a girl — and God knows best.