Arrival in the capital
Historical reports place the entry of the captives and the heads of the martyrs into Damascus on the first of Safar. Yazid had ordered the city decorated; crowds gathered to watch a procession that was presented to them as the defeat of rebels. The prisoners were held at the Umayyad Mosque and then brought before Yazid in his palace.
The sermons
Two speeches given in those days changed the meaning of Karbala. When Yazid gloated over the head of Imam Husayn (a), Zaynab (a) answered him with a sermon that named his crime and promised that it would be remembered when he was forgotten. Days later, given the pulpit of the mosque, Imam Zayn al-Abidin (a) told the Syrians who his father and grandfather were, until Yazid had the call to prayer sounded to cut him off. Public feeling in Damascus turned, and Yazid released the family and sent them home with an escort.
Why the day is marked
The first of Safar continues the Muharram mourning into its second month: in the majalis it is the day of the captives' humiliation, and of Zaynab's (a) courage in the court of the man who had killed her brother.
Written for Shia Online Community. Dates and facts are checked against the references listed under Research & books; where the tradition records more than one date, all are given.
