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The House of doom

lady fatima

Fâtemeh used to cry a lot because of her longing for her father... She cried night and day. She was restless and full of sorrow. Finally, some unthoughtful persons came to see Ali, and began to complain about Fâteme"s incessant crying. They told him that either Fâtemeh should mourn her father by nightfall, and remain silent by morning, or mourn by morning, and remain silent by nightfall.

 

They said that they couldn"t bear her mourning any longer, and that Ali should find a way to keep her quiet. On hearing this, Fâtemeh got used to take the little hands of her two sons, and go at the end of the" Baghi" graveyard, under a thorny shrub,so as to be able to mourn properly her beloved father and cry at her will. Her wailings were so strong and pitiful, that every caravan that passed from Medina, on hearing these sobbings and wailings, paused a few minutes to think about this strange; unending sorrow...

 

Finally one day  by nightfall, the enemies uprooted the said shrub, so that Fâtemeh could not even go there anymore. But Ali, put a sort of a tent there by the name of " The House of doom " [ Beytol Ahzân ] for the sake of the Prophet"s daughter, so as to show their enemies, their untamable independence and their infinite freedom of mind, which were the characteristics of the Household of Hazratê Ali Ibn Abi Tâlêb and his wife Fâtemeh.

 

Fâtemeh, because of her daily mourning and sufferings which she had received from their enemies, was becoming weak and weaker every day. At last she became ill...

 

Ali became the only person that took care of her during her illness. Another person was a woman by the name of Asmâ Bent Omeyss. At last, the news of her physical illness reached the ears of the citizens of Medina.

A multitude of Muslim women came to see her, and to help her recuperate her lost health. But their number was so great, that they couldn"t enter her house; so, many of them remained in the outside. The house of Fâtemeh was so simple and poor, and her personality was so sweet and humble, so great in her magnitude and glory, that everybody grew silent and nobody could utter a word in her presence...

zahra(as)

Finally, Fâtemeh in answer to a lady began talking and saying very important things to all of them. While she was talking, she admitted that:" My state of mind is such, that I verily love no more the earthly world, and I despise your men... I tried to examine and test their mentality and their readiness to come to my aid, but the sad result was that I grew very unsatisfied and very upset by their reaction... So, I left them be at their way of thinking. "

 

The reaction of Fâtemeh"s complaint on her ill bed, produced a spiritual awakening on Ansâri women; so much so that it brought out a sort of a rebellion among them. It resulted in the fact that the enemies of Ali were forced to go and to negotiate with him, to silence this rebellion. They found a way: could they come and pay a visit to Fâtemeh?...

 

But not only their visit to Fâtemeh, did not improve the situation, but it also worsened their case; and made them more hateful and mean and petty in front of the others...

 

Unfortunately, the health of Fâtemeh went away slowly and each passing day, she grew worse... Finally , in the last day of her very short life, in midday, she went to a deep sleep in her dream, she saw her beloved father who told her that that very same night she would come to meet him at last...

zahra(as)

Fâtemeh, woke up and decided to prepare herself for her deathbed; she washed her body, put on a neat dress and then lied down to the direction of the Qiblah. She then put her fragile, innocent hands on her bossom. After that, Fâtemeh told Ali about her beatific vision, and gave him her last directions, and made her testament. She said:

" In the name of God, The most Compassionate, The most Merciful! This is the testament of Fâtemeh, the Prophet’s daughter. I attest that there is no God, but He, and Mohammad is His Messenger. Heaven and Hell exist truly, and the Resurrection will be accomplished, and nobody should doubt this undeniable truth. For God will truly resurrect all who have slept in their grave... O Ali! I am Fâtemeh, daughter of Mohammad.

God has made me your wife, so that not only in this world, but also in the Hereafter, I be your faithful companion, and be always at your side... You were more dignified and worthier than all, to become my husband.

O Ali! After my death, wash my body and envelop me in my shroud in the midst of the night... After some time has elapsed, make a prayer for my sake, and then put me on earth, so that nobody learns of this news, and nobody finds out the whereabouts of my grave! I entrust thee to God, and till the Resurrection, Day, I tell thee my farewell and my good wishes: to thee and to my beloved children..! "

After that, only a few seconds had passed, when Fâtemeh looked at the corner of the room in which she was lying down, and said joyfully:" I salute thee, o Gabriel! I salute thee, o Messenger of God! "

And then, her eyes were shut, and her soul flew up lightly to Heaven...

zahra(as)


Other Useful links:

The Prophet of God and Fatimah

Mourning for Zahra (pbuh)

The event that took place in Saghifeh

 

Author: Farideh Mahadavi-Damghani

August 2001

[ from Tir Publishing ]

 

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