Well, hello there, dauntless Twitter traveller. You look like somebody that enjoys good stories. Would you care for listening to this one?

Sit and pay attention as we tell you the story of Abbās ibn ʿAlī. Is your tea warm enough? Let's get started...

THREAD

Abbās ibn ʿAlī was a son of Alī, who was the first Shi'a Imam and the fourth Caliph of Sunni Muslims. This means he was the brother of Husayn ibn ʿAlī, the cornerstone of Shi'a Islam and one of the highly revered characters in this tradition.

"The Legend" by Special Hussein

There is a lot (A LOT) to explain about these early decades of Islam, but we'll only explore the surface today, for we want to make Abbās the real protagonist. However, there is something you must know before continuing, and that is the difference between Shi'a and Sunna Islam.

Summarising it to Twitter-limitations-and-demands, this is how it goes:

Sunna: they believe Prophet Muhammad did not designate a clear heir before dying.
Shi'a: they believe Prophet Muhammad did designate an heir before dying, and that heir was his cousin & son-in-law Ali.

One of the main features of Abbās was his loyalty. Let us emphasise this again, he is the epitome of loyalty. And that who he was the most loyal to was his brother Husayn. They were brothers by blood and brothers in battle.

Can you hear the metal clinging, traveller? That is because a battle is coming near on the horizon. And that is not other than the Battle of Karbala.

Take a sip from your tea, stranger. It gets darker from here.

Karbala brought face to face the supporters of Yazīd I, the second Umayyad Caliph, and the supporters of Alī, dead at the time and father of Husayn and Abbās. Yazīd asked Husayn to surrender but he did not.
And both armies clashed in bloodshed.

"Karbala", Hassan Roholamin

It is important to know that Husayn was killed at this battle and that finished to widen the breach between Sunna and Shi'a communities. This day when Karbala took place, Oct 10 680, is commemorated as the day of Ashura.

But we wanted to talk about Abbās today and of his loyalty towards Husayn. Here's how Abbās met his destiny. Husayn named his brother "standard-bearer", which let us mention it was a pretty big deal. The key here was his second mission: get to the banks of Euphrates to get water

There was a tiny bit of a problem, however. These banks were occupied by Yazid's army. So the task was getting harder by the minute. Abbās was a powerful warrior, of great might and strength. Yet, his brother Husayn order him not to engage in combat.
Just get the water.

Right?

Right. Abbās was an obedient soldier and a loyal brother, so he went to retrieve the water by himself. The stories say that he was only carrying a spear and that even though he was incredibly thirsty, he did not drink a single drop since the others waiting for him were a priority

After getting the water he jumped onto his horse and rode back to his camp. On his way, he was struck by an arrow on the back. And again.
And again.
He lost his two arms, the story says, yet he did not stop neither slowed down his horse. The water bag hanging from his mouth.

Eventually, the water bag was hit, and soon followed a second arrow that hit Abbās in the eye. The riders pursuing him got close-distanced and one of the stroke Abbās' head with a mace. Having no arms, he fell from the horse into the ground.

And before his head touched the ground he called.

Can you guess, eager-listening traveller, the word he spoke?

Exactly. The stories passed onto us say that ʿAbbās rose his voice to say one word:

"Brother!"

And then he left this world, having in mind the person he loved the most while existing: Husayn.

Of course, there is plenty of versions to this story. Some are scarcer, others packed with details and side stories to maximise the experience.
But this, the tale of ʿAbbās, was the one we were told when we were in a tea-house in Iran, if we remember properly, in Yazd.

The wish to share this story with you came inspired by this beautiful illustration by @enna_kodumada of precisely the moment when ʿAbbās got the water between his hands.
Sure this work calls for stories, for imagination, for sharing!
Go show some love to the artist!

We hope, dear stranger and listener, you enjoyed this time you had with us. You are more than welcome to come back to share some more tea and stories. Who knows? Maybe next time you could tell them.

Have a wonderful day.

END OF THREAD