Brief Summary of Lady Zaynab’s (a) Sermon in Damascus
Brief Summary of Lady Zaynab’s (a) Sermon in Damascus: The great speech of Lady Zaynab has been an extension of the uprising of Karbala and a good representation of its values and goals. Lady Zaynab referred to the false elation of Yazid who thought of himself as
victorious in that encounter. She uncovered the truth that his military
superiority was transient and that Almighty Allah let the unbelievers enjoy
bliss in this world so that their sons will increase and, thus, they will have a
painful chastisement on the Day of Resurrection. She proved that all Yazid’s endeavors to eradicate the immortal good mention
of the Ahl al-Bayt would fail, because they represent the right, which will
inevitably triumph.
The great speech of Lady Zaynab has been an extension of the uprising of
Karbala and a good representation of its values and goals. Let us now refer to
some goals that the speech achieved:
1) Lady Zaynab referred to the false elation of Yazid who thought of himself as
victorious in that encounter. She uncovered the truth that his military
superiority was transient and that Almighty Allah let the unbelievers enjoy
bliss in this world so that their sons will increase and, thus, they will have a
painful chastisement on the Day of Resurrection.
2) She reproached Yazid for taking the harem of the Prophet’s Household as
captives. While it was the Holy Prophet (s) who freed Yazid and his unbelieving
family on the Conquest of Mecca while they were captives of the Islamic armies.
Instead of thanking the Prophet (s) who saved him from slavery, Yazid rewarded
his family very badly.
3) She referred to the hereditary, educational, and psychological motives beyond
Yazid’s slaying the Prophet’s family. She referred, as an instance, to his
grandmother, Hind, who chewed the liver of Hamzah out of her limitless malice
against the Prophet and the Hashemites, She also referred to Yazid’s grandfather
Abu Sufyan who was the leading enemy of Islam and who led campaigns against the
Prophet and his Divine Mission. Not forgetting Yazid’s father, Lady Zaynab
referred to Mu’awiyah who slew innocent Muslims and violated all what Allah has
deemed respected.
4) She disapproved of Yazid’s citing poetic verses in which he wished his
forefathers whom were killed at the hands of Imam ‘Ali, as well as Muslim
warriors, during their conflicts against the holy Prophet to be witnessing him
so that they would take revenge upon the Holy Prophet. She also asserted to
Yazid courageously that he would certainly face the same fate of those cursed
forefathers.
5) She shed light on an important point; the tyrant, by slaying Imam al-Husayn
and his pure family members and companions, has in fact slain himself, none
else. The souls of the martyrs are pure, alive, abiding, and covered by auras of
glory. Disgrace and loss would be Yazid’s only.
6) She mentioned those who paved the way to Yazid to hold such a position with
words of scolding as she added them to Yazid. This point should be studied
carefully.
7) She referred to her high standing and unreachable honor as another way of
making little of the tyrant. Despite all the misfortunes that inflicted on her
and weakened her, she showed her power and scolded the tyrant so harshly that he
could not find any answer.
8) She proved that all Yazid’s endeavors to eradicate the immortal good mention
of the Ahl al-Bayt would fail, because they represent the right, which will
inevitably triumph.
Thus, days have proved that Imam al-Husayn and his party were the triumphant,
while Yazid and his party have been always the losers. At any rate, the speech
of Lady Zaynab includes tens of lessons not all of which can be contained in
this brief study. It is quite enough to say that this speech was one of the
deathblows that snapped the Umayyad State.
Having seen the collapse of his pride and arrogance, Yazid could not find any
words to answer except citing a poetic verse not related to the subject in any
extent. Moreover, the political atmospheres were over-clouded against him whose
perplexity, owing to the scandalous situation that Lady Zaynab put him in,
disabled him to do anything. He once tried to find himself excuses for his crime
and, at other times, tried to make a comparison between the Imam and himself.