The following is the text of the Rowza[i] narrated by Ayatollah Khamenei on the afternoon of Ashura:
As the enemies had the body of Imam Hussain (as) surrounded, each took their turn stabbing his pure defenseless body, laid out on the ground; thus, while viciousness, revengefulness, and feral behavior swept through the battlefield, in the camps of Imam Hussain (as) the spirit of remembrance in God, the human quality of tenderness, and intense emotions prevailed.
All women and children—no one but women and children were left in the camps, with the exception of the only surviving male Ali Ibn Hussain (as) who was ill—were worried about Hussain Ibn Ali (as) and what would transpire next.
They came out of their tents, and proceeded to the area where they believed Hussain Ibn Ali’s (as) body was seized; it has been narrated that the women departed from the camp. You have probably seen or heard how Arab women weep and mourn: it is still common among Arab women to mourn painfully upon the death of their loved ones; they beat their own faces, and pull at their hair; they mourn in such an intense manner. Well, these women had lost a loved one, a man like Hussain Ibn Ali (as).
Hazrat Zeinab was heading the women towards the sight of his martyrdom. When she arrived, she spotted the body of her beloved brother on the blistering grounds of Karbala. Instead of revealing some sort of reaction, or grievance, she went to the corpse of her beloved Hussain (as), and called on her grandfather (pbuh). She said, “O’ the Messenger of God, peace be upon you! Take a look at your Hussain who is covered in blood, with his body hacked up.” O’ my dear grandfather! O’ Great Prophet, look towards the hot desert of Karbala. This is your Hussain who is now covered in blood and dust.
Then, as it has been narrated, Zeinab (as) reached her hands beneath the body of Hussain Ibn Ali (as) and called out, “O’ God! Please accept this sacrifice from the progeny of Muhammad (saw)!”
Ayatollah Khamenei,
September 27, 1985
[i] Rowza is a gathering in which touching and passionate accounts of the sufferings of the Prophet and Imams (pbut) are recited. It is worth mentioning that the rationale behind rowza in Islamic culture and tradition is at least twofold: firstly, it is for preserving and reviving the very injustices that the Imams (pbut) and the Muslims went under throughout history. Secondly, the rowza sessions keep alive the sense and spirit of Truth- and justice-seeking in the individual attending it.
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