Tonight is #Muharram 6th, dedicated to Qasim ibn Hassan, nephew of Imam Hussain (as).

A night before Ashura, when Hussain (as) was addressing his companions on what was to unfold in the desert plains of Karbala, 13-year old Qasim (as) was listening curiously. (1/n)

Qasim asked his uncle: "Will I also be among the martyrs?". Hussain looked at him and noticed palpable excitement in his eyes.

"How do you see death, Qasim?" [كيف ترى الموت] he asked. The teenager's reply was profound. "Death to me is sweeter than honey." [أحلى من العسل] (2/n)

On Ashura afternoon, after Aun and Muhammad, two tender sons of Zainab (sa), fell in the battlefield, Qasim rushed to his uncle and sought permission to fight. Imam refused twice. “Qasim, you are young and your mother’s only son." Qasim asked his mother to plead his case. (3/n)

His mother Umme Farwa handed Qasim a letter in envelope that his father had given her. The boy rushed towards the tent of his uncle. He found Hussain standing outside Zainab’s tent with Abbas by his side. Qasim stood there quietly and then passed the envelope to Imam. (4/n)

Hussain read the letter written by his brother and burst into tears. Qasim got the permission and he rushed to his mother. What followed was a brief exchange of looks between the mother and son, and parting words. Mother embraced her son, a long embrace, a final embrace. (5/n)

Qasim then went to bid adieu to his aunt Zainab. "March on my child with the name of God," she said. Finally, he came to his uncle. Qasim was four when his father died. Hussain raised him as his own child. He wept bitterly. With a heavy heart helped him mount the horse. (6/n)

Qasim marched to the battlefield, with sword in his hand and eloquent words on his lips, like his grandfather Ali ibn Abi Talib in the Battle of Badr. Yazid was seeking revenge for Badr. Umar Ibn Saad ordered his men to attack the young man. Qasim fought like a warrior. (7/n)

It was a contest between 13-year old man and army of thousands. Qasim warded off swords, spears, daggers and arrows coming at him from all sides, before crashing to the ground, wounded and bleeding. As he lost grip of his saddle, he let out a cry, calling his uncle Hussain. (8/n)

Hussain rushed to the battlefield with sword in his hand, triggering stampede in Yazid's army. The body of Qasim was trampled under the feet of hundreds of horses. Hussain sat down and started picking up pieces of his brave warrior's body. There was hardly anything left. (9/n)

Qasim kept his promise. He saw death sweeter than honey because life without his uncle wasn't worth living.

السَّلامُ عَلَى القاسِمِ بنِ الحَسَنِ بنِ عَلِیٍّ، المَضروبِ عَلى هامَتِهِ، المَسلوبِ لامَتُهُ، حینَ نادَى الحُسَینَ عَمَّهُ، فَجَلا عَلَیهِ عَمُّهُ كَالصَّقرِ... (10/10)