The order from Kufa
On the seventh of Muharram a letter from Ubayd Allah b. Ziyad reached Umar b. Sa'd instructing him to stand between Husayn's (a) camp and the river so that "not a drop" of water reached them. Amr b. al-Hajjaj al-Zubaydi was posted on the Euphrates with five hundred horsemen, and from that day the small camp — with its women and children, and the infant Ali al-Asghar among them — was under a water blockade in the heat of the Iraqi plain.
Abbas at the river
Thirst became the defining hardship of the last three days. Historians record that the Imam sent his brother Abbas (a) with a party of horsemen and foot soldiers carrying twenty water-skins to the river by night; Nafi' b. Hilal led with the standard, the guards engaged them, and while some filled the skins the others held the bank until water was carried back to the tents. It is from this and from his final attempt on the day of Ashura that Abbas earned the title Saqqa, the water-bearer.
In the majalis
The seventh night of Muharram is traditionally given to the theme of thirst: the children of the camp, Ali al-Asghar, and the standard-bearer who would not drink before the family of the Prophet (s) had drunk.
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.
