The history of thirst began with the story of Prophet Abraham and his son Ismail. The next instance throughout the history was the story of Imam Hussein.
Prophet Abraham was going from Palestine to Mecca, while Imam Hussein was leaving Mecca to another Kaba…martyrdom.
The thirsty caravan was moving in the desert.
It was the second day of Muharram and the sun had just set. There was a deadly silence in the desert. Then Imam Hussein broke the silence with his beautiful voice,
“Stop! This is Karbala.”
“This is where they will take away our horses.”
“This is where they will kill us.”
“This is where they will disrespect us.”
“They will kill our men.”
“They will behead our children.”
“People will come to visit our graves here later.”
They stopped and they set up tents.
Approaching from far away, were soldiers who said, “We are against you. We are here to prevent you from having water.”
And the story of Karbala started.
Nights and days passed by and the men of Hussein fought while they were thirsty and were martyred.
The men of Yazid were the worst of the betrayers. They had asked Hussein to go to them and they promised to help him. But they started a fight with him when he arrived.
It was a difficult battle. Imam Hussein was tired. He would fight and he would check on the thirsty children in the tents. The suffering of the thirsty children was very hard for Imam Hussein to watch. He took a thirsty baby on his hands and said to the enemy, “Have mercy on this baby, if you have no mercy on me.” But they killed the baby.
They say Ali Akbar was the first one of Abu-Talib’s sons who went to the battlefield. He asked for his father’s permission and his father beseeched God, “Lord! Here I send to war the one who is very much similar to your Prophet in looks and in manners. We look at him anytime we remember Prophet Muhammad.”
Anyway, Ali Akbar fought strongly for a while. Then he came back and said, “O, father! I am exhausted and thirsty. Have you got some water?”
“Your grandfather will soon give you water to drink. Just be patient.” His father said.
He went back to the battlefield. He fought until he was injured. He fell down from horseback and called his father from far away and said, “God bless you, father! You were right. My grandfather just gave me water. I will never be thirsty again.”
That is how all the companions of Hussein were killed in Karbala, and by their martyrdom, they shed light on the right path for people in all times.
