Imam Husain's Sermon on the Day of Ashura
"Now then! Consider my family, and ponder as to who I am and then admonish yourselves. Then do you consider that killing me and plundering my sanctity and respect is lawful for you?
Am I not the grandson of your Prophet (S.A.W.) and the son of his Vicegerent and cousin, who was the foremost in believing and the bearer of witness upon everything that the Prophet (S.A.W.) had brought from Allah? Was not Hamza, the chief of Martyrs, the uncle of my father? Was not Ja'far, who flies with two wings in Paradise, my Uncle? Did not the Tradition of the Prophet (S.A.W.) reach you in which he has said about me and my brother that both of us are the chiefs of the youth of Paradise?
Then if you agree to what I say, and verily what I have said is nothing but the truth, then it is better, for by Allah, from the time I have realized that Allah dislikes the liars, I have never ever spoken a lie. Then if you do not believe to what I say, there are alive among you the companions of the Prophet (S.A.W.). Go to them and ask them and they shall bear testimony to the truthfulness of my speech. Ask Jabir bin Abdullah Ansari, Abu Sa'eed Khudri, Sahl bin Sa'ad Sa'edi, Zayd bin Arqam and Anas bin Malik, they will tell you that they have heard this tradition from the Prophet of Allah (S.A.W.) regarding me and my brother. Is not this sufficient to refrain you from shedding my blood"?
Then Shimr bin Ziljawshan, the accursed said, "I worship Allah (only) by lips (half heartedly), and do not understand what you say." Hearing this Habib bin Mazahir said, "I can see that you worship Allah with seventy types of doubts, and I bear testimony that you have spoken the truth and you cannot understand what the Imam says, for Allah has placed a seal (of ignorance) upon your heart."
Imam (A.S.) continued, "Then if you doubt this, do you even doubt that I am the grandson of the Prophet of Allah (S.A.W.)? By Allah! There is no other grandson of the Prophet (S.A.W.) in the East or the West except myself from among yourselves or anyone else. Woe be to you! Have I killed anyone from among you whose revenge you desire? Or have I usurped the wealth of anyone or hurt anyone whose retribution you desire from me"?
When no one answered him, he (A.S.) called out in a loud voice, "O Shabas bin Rab'ee! O Hajjar bin Abjar! O Qays bin Ash'as! O Yazeed bin Haris! Have you not written letters to me saying that the fruits had ripened and the surrounding earth had blossomed, and to come to a huge army prepared for me"?
They replied that they had not written any such letters. Imam said, "Glory be to Allah! Yes by Allah, you had written it."
Then he (A.S.) continued, "O people! Then now if you do not like my arrival, then leave me so that I may go away to a place of refuge."
Qays bin Ash'as said, "We do not know what you say. Then submit yourselves to your cousins (Bani Umayyah), they shall deal with you in a manner which you like." Imam replied, "By Allah! I shall not give my hands in yours like a base man, nor shall I flee away like a slave."
Then he (A.S.) called out in a loud voice, "O servants of Allah! 'And verily, I take refuge with my Lord and your's, lest you stone me (to death)' and I take refuge with my Lord and your's, from every arrogant, who does not believe in the day of reckoning."