Camp of al-Husayn
This blog presents all the historical reports concerning the layout of the camp of al-Ḥusayn and his companions on the day of ʿĀshūrāʾ. The reports are extracted from The Chronicles of the Martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn by al-Rayshahrī. The book is available from ICAS Press and its distributors.
I am not going to include the volume and page numbers besides the book titles since every one of these can be searched via the arabic on websites like lib.eshia.ir.
Three groups of al-Husayn's Army
Narrations
Shaykh al-Mufīd, al-Irshād
«أصبَحَ الحُسَينُ بنُ عَلِيٍّ عليه السلام فَعَبَّأَ أصحابَهُ بَعدَ صَلاةِ الغَداةِ، وكانَ مَعَهُ اثنانِ وثَلاثونَ فارِساً وأربَعونَ راجِلاً، فَجَعَلَ زُهَيرَ بنَ القَينِ في مَيمَنَةِ أصحابِهِ، وحَبيبَ بنَ مُظاهِرٍ في مَيسَرَةِ أصحابِهِ، وأعطى رايَتَهُ العَبّاسَ أخاهُ عليه السلام...»
In the morning, al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī arranged his companions for battle after the dawn prayer. He had thirty-two horsemen and forty foot soldiers. He placed Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn on the right wing of his companions, Ḥabīb ibn Muẓāhir on their left wing, and gave his standard to his brother al-ʿAbbās.
al-Ṭabarī through Abū Mikhnaf
«عَبَّأَ الحُسَينُ عليه السلام أصحابَهُ وصَلّى بِهِم صَلاةَ الغَداةِ، وكانَ مَعَهُ اثنانِ وثَلاثونَ فارِساً وأربَعونَ راجِلاً، فَجَعَلَ زُهَيرَ بنَ القَينِ في مَيمَنَةِ أصحابِهِ، وحَبيبَ بنَ مُظاهِرٍ في مَيسَرَةِ أصحابِهِ، وأعطى رايَتَهُ العَبّاسَ بنَ عَلِيٍّ أخاهُ عليه السلام...»
al-Ḥusayn arranged his companions and led them in the dawn prayer. He had thirty-two horsemen and forty foot soldiers. He placed Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn on the right wing, Ḥabīb ibn Muẓāhir on the left wing, and gave his standard to his brother al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAlī.
al-Khwārazmī, Maqtal al-Ḥusayn
«فَجَعَلَ عَلى مَيمَنَتِهِ: زُهَيرَ بنَ القَينِ، وعَلى مَيسَرَتِهِ حَبيبَ بنَ مُظاهِرٍ، ودَفَعَ اللِّواءَ إلى أخيهِ العَبّاسِ بنِ عَلِيٍّ، وثَبَتَ عليه السلام مَعَ أهلِ بَيتِهِ فِي القَلبِ.»
He appointed Zuhayr ibn al-Qayn over his right wing, and Ḥabīb ibn Muẓāhir over his left wing, and handed the banner to his brother al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAlī, while he—peace be upon him—remained with the members of his household in the centre.
Summary
We can conclude from the reports that have reached us, that al-Ḥusayn's army was divided into three groups. Habib ibn Muzahir on the left wing, Zuhayr ibn Qayn commanding the right wing and al-Ḥusayn commanding the centre with al-Abbas as his flagbearer next to him.
Interconnected Defensive Tents
Narrations
al-Ṭabarī:
«وقاتَلوهُم حَتّى انتَصَفَ النَّهارُ، أشَدَّ قِتالٍ خَلَقَهُ اللَّهُ، وأخَذوا لا يَقدِرونَ عَلى أن يَأتوهم إلّا مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ؛ لِاجتِماعِ أبنِيَتِهِم، وتَقارُبِ بَعضِها مِن بَعضٍ.»
They fought them until midday in the fiercest fighting God had created, and they found themselves unable to approach them except from one direction, because their tents were gathered together and placed close to one another.
«فَلَمّا رَأى ذلِكَ عُمَرُ بنُ سَعدٍ، أرسَلَ رِجالاً يُقَوِّضونَها عَن أيمانِهِم وعَن شَمائِلِهِم؛ لِيُحيطوا بِهِم.»
When ʿUmar ibn Saʿd saw that, he sent men to pull the tents down from their right and their left, so that they might surround them.
«فَأَخَذَ الثَّلاثَةُ وَالأَربَعَةُ مِن أصحابِ الحُسَينِ عليه السلام يَتَخَلَّلونَ البُيوتَ، فَيَشُدّونَ عَلَى الرَّجُلِ وهُوَ يُقَوِّضُ ويَنتَهِبُ، فَيَقتُلونَهُ ويَرمونَهُ مِن قَريبٍ ويَعقِرونَهُ.»
Groups of three or four of al-Ḥusayn’s companions began moving through the tents, attacking a man while he was dismantling and plundering them; they would kill him, shoot him from close range and strike him down.
«فَأَمَرَ بِها عُمَرُ بنُ سَعدٍ عِندَ ذلِكَ، فَقالَ: أحرِقوها بِالنّارِ، ولا تَدخُلوا بَيتاً ولا تُقَوِّضوهُ، فَجاءوا بِالنّارِ، فَأَخَذوا يُحرِقونَ.»
Thereupon ʿUmar ibn Saʿd ordered concerning them: ‘Burn them with fire; do not enter a tent and do not dismantle it.’ So they brought fire and began burning them.
Imam al-Ḥusayn then said:
«دَعوهُم فَليُحرِقوها، فَإِنَّهُم لَو قَد حَرَّقوها لَم يَستَطيعوا أن يَجوزوا إلَيكُم مِنها.»
Leave them to burn them, for once they have burned them, they will still be unable to pass through them to reach you.
«وكانَ ذلِكَ كَذلِكَ، وأخَذوا لا يُقاتِلونَهُم إلّا مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ.»
And it was indeed so: they continued to fight them only from one direction.
Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib — Ibn Shahrāshūb:
«فَلَمّا أصبَحوا عَبَّى الحُسَينُ عليه السلام أصحابَهُ، وأمَرَ بِأَطنابِ البُيوتِ، فَقُرِّبَت حَتّى دَخَلَ بَعضُها في بَعضٍ، وجَعَلوها وَراءَ ظُهورِهِم؛ لِيَكونَ الحَربُ مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ، وأمَرَ بِحَطَبٍ وقَصَبٍ كانوا أجمَعوهُ وَراءَ البُيوتِ، فَطُرِحَ ذلِكَ في خَندَقٍ جَعَلوهُ، وألقَوا فيهِ النّارَ، وقالَ: لا نُؤتى مِن وَرائِنا.»
When morning came, al-Ḥusayn arranged his companions and ordered that the tent ropes be brought close together until some entered into others. They placed the tents behind their backs so that the battle would take place from one direction. He then ordered that the firewood and reeds which they had gathered behind the tents be cast into a trench they had made, and they set it alight. He said: ‘We shall not be approached from behind.’
Maqtal al-Ḥusayn — al-Khwārazmī:
«فَلَمّا أيِسَ الحُسَينُ عليه السلام مِنَ القَومِ وعَلِمَ أنَّهُم مُقاتِلوهُ، قالَ لِأَصحابِهِ: قوموا فَاحفِروا لَنا حَفيرَةً شِبهَ الخَندَقِ حَولَ مُعَسكَرِنا وأجِّجوا فيها ناراً، حَتّى يَكونَ قِتالُ هؤُلاءِ القَومِ مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ؛ فَإِنَّهُم لَو قاتَلونا وشَغَلنا بِحَربِهِم لَضاعَتِ الحَرَمُ، فَقاموا مِن كُلِّ ناحِيَةٍ، فَتَعاوَنوا وَاحتَفَرُوا الحَفيرَةَ، ثُمَّ جَمَعُوا الشَّوكَ وَالحَطَبَ، فَأَلقَوهُ فِي الحَفيرَةِ، وأجَّجوا فيهَا النّارَ.»
When al-Ḥusayn despaired of the people and knew that they would fight him, he said to his companions: ‘Rise and dig for us a depression resembling a trench around our camp and kindle a fire within it, so that the fighting against these people will be from one direction. For, if they fight us and occupy us with their warfare, the women of the sanctuary will be lost.’ They therefore rose from every side, cooperated in digging the trench, gathered thorns and firewood, cast them into it and set it alight.
al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl — Abū Ḥanīfah al-Dīnawarī:
«أمَرَ الحُسَينُ عليه السلام أصحابَهُ أن يَضُمّوا مَضارِبَهُم بَعضَهُم مِن بَعضٍ، ويَكونوا أمامَ البُيوتِ، وأن يَحفِروا مِن وَراءِ البُيوتِ اُخدوداً، وأن يُضرِموا فيهِ حَطَباً وقَصَباً كَثيراً؛ لِئَلّا يُؤتَوا مِن أدبارِ البُيوتِ، فَيَدخُلوها.»
al-Ḥusayn ordered his companions to draw their tents together, to position themselves in front of the tents, and to dig a trench behind the tents and kindle within it a large quantity of firewood and reeds, so that they would not be approached from behind the tents and entered upon through them.
Summary
al-Ḥusayn had ordered his companions to draw the tents interconnected to each other with their ropes conjoined, such that these tents may make it so that the enemy can only engage with the army of al-Ḥusayn from one direction. This would only mean that the tents would have surrounded his forces in some way such that only the battleground ahead can be used to engage with the army.
The author of this book also attempts to draw a picture in his mind and describes the formation as ends of a bow that would have encircled the centre. So, we have drawn the interconnected defensive tents so as to surround the army from either side.
Behind the tents
Narrations
al-Ṭabarī
«فَسارَ [الحُسَينُ عليه السلام]، فَلَقِيَتهُ أوائِلُ خَيلِ عُبَيدِ اللَّهِ، فَلَمّا رَأى ذلِكَ عَدَلَ إلى كَربَلاءَ، فَأَسنَدَ ظَهرَهُ إلى قَصباءَ وخَلاً؛ كَيلا يُقاتِلَ إلّا مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ، فَنَزَلَ وضَرَبَ أبنِيَتَهُ.»
al-Ḥusayn proceeded until the vanguard of ʿUbayd Allāh’s cavalry encountered him. When he saw that, he turned toward Karbala and placed his rear against reeds and open vegetation, so that he would fight only from one direction. He then dismounted and erected his tents.
al-Ṭabarī
«وأمَرَ بِحَطَبٍ وقَصَبٍ كانَ مِن وَراءِ البُيوتِ يُحرَقُ بِالنّارِ؛ مَخافَةَ أن يَأتوهُم مِن وَرائِهِم.»
He ordered that the wood and reeds which were behind the tents be burned with fire, out of fear that they might approach them from the rear.
«وكانَ الحُسَينُ عليه السلام أتى بِقَصَبٍ وحَطَبٍ إلى مَكانٍ مِن وَرائِهِم مُنخَفِضٍ كَأَنَّهُ ساقِيَةٌ، فَحَفَروهُ في ساعَةٍ مِنَ اللَّيلِ، فَجَعَلوهُ كَالخَندَقِ، ثُمَّ ألقَوا فيهِ ذلِكَ الحَطَبَ وَالقَصَبَ، وقالوا: إذا عَدَوا عَلَينا فَقاتَلونا ألقَينا فيهِ النّارَ؛ كَي لا نُؤتى مِن وَرائِنا، وقاتَلنَا القَومَ مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ.»
al-Ḥusayn brought reeds and firewood to a low-lying place behind them which resembled a water channel. During part of the night they excavated it and made it like a trench. They then cast the wood and reeds into it and said: ‘When they charge upon us and fight us, we shall set fire to it, so that we are not approached from behind and may fight the people from one direction.’
al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl — Abū Ḥanīfah al-Dīnawarī:
«أمَرَ الحُسَينُ عليه السلام أصحابَهُ أن يَضُمّوا مَضارِبَهُم بَعضَهُم مِن بَعضٍ، ويَكونوا أمامَ البُيوتِ، وأن يَحفِروا مِن وَراءِ البُيوتِ اُخدوداً، وأن يُضرِموا فيهِ حَطَباً وقَصَباً كَثيراً؛ لِئَلّا يُؤتَوا مِن أدبارِ البُيوتِ، فَيَدخُلوها.»
al-Ḥusayn ordered his companions to draw their tents together, to position themselves in front of the tents, and to dig a trench behind the tents and kindle within it a large quantity of firewood and reeds, so that they would not be approached from behind the tents and entered upon through them.
Maqtal al-Ḥusayn — al-Khwārazmī:
«فَلَمّا أيِسَ الحُسَينُ عليه السلام مِنَ القَومِ وعَلِمَ أنَّهُم مُقاتِلوهُ، قالَ لِأَصحابِهِ: قوموا فَاحفِروا لَنا حَفيرَةً شِبهَ الخَندَقِ حَولَ مُعَسكَرِنا وأجِّجوا فيها ناراً، حَتّى يَكونَ قِتالُ هؤُلاءِ القَومِ مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ؛ فَإِنَّهُم لَو قاتَلونا وشَغَلنا بِحَربِهِم لَضاعَتِ الحَرَمُ، فَقاموا مِن كُلِّ ناحِيَةٍ، فَتَعاوَنوا وَاحتَفَرُوا الحَفيرَةَ، ثُمَّ جَمَعُوا الشَّوكَ وَالحَطَبَ، فَأَلقَوهُ فِي الحَفيرَةِ، وأجَّجوا فيهَا النّارَ.»
When al-Ḥusayn despaired of the people and knew that they would fight him, he said to his companions: ‘Rise and dig for us a depression resembling a trench around our camp and kindle fire within it, so that the fighting against these people will be from one direction. For, if they fight us and occupy us with their warfare, the women of the sanctuary will be lost.’ They arose from every side, cooperated in digging the trench, gathered thorns and firewood, cast them into the depression and set it alight.
Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib — Ibn Shahrāshūb:
«فَلَمّا أصبَحوا عَبَّى الحُسَينُ عليه السلام أصحابَهُ، وأمَرَ بِأَطنابِ البُيوتِ، فَقُرِّبَت حَتّى دَخَلَ بَعضُها في بَعضٍ، وجَعَلوها وَراءَ ظُهورِهِم؛ لِيَكونَ الحَربُ مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ، وأمَرَ بِحَطَبٍ وقَصَبٍ كانوا أجمَعوهُ وَراءَ البُيوتِ، فَطُرِحَ ذلِكَ في خَندَقٍ جَعَلوهُ، وألقَوا فيهِ النّارَ، وقالَ: لا نُؤتى مِن وَرائِنا.»
When morning came, al-Ḥusayn arranged his companions and ordered the tent ropes to be brought close together until some entered into others. They placed the tents behind their backs so that the battle would take place from one direction. He ordered that the firewood and reeds which they had gathered behind the tents be cast into a trench they had made, and they set it alight. He said: ‘We shall not be approached from behind.’
Summary
Here we can conclude that according to these narrations, it is very clear that behind al-Ḥusayn's camp were naturally disadvantageous terrain due to the rough foliage and uncultivated herbage. al-Ḥusayn wanted to further seal this direction from attacks and so he used an existing depression in the land to be dug deeper and filled with reeds and vegetation from the surroundings to be kindled into a flame either on the night itself or the day of Ashura.
Main camp
Narrations
al-Futūḥ — Ibn Aʿtham al-Kūfī:
«فَنَزَلَ القَومُ، وحَطُّوا الأَثقالَ ناحِيَةً مِنَ الفُراتِ، وضُرِبَت خَيمَةُ الحُسَينِ عليه السلام لِأَهلِهِ وبَنيهِ، وضَرَبَ عَشيرَتُهُ خِيامَهُم مِن حَولِ خَيمَتِهِ.»
The people dismounted and set down their baggage in the direction of the Euphrates. A tent was erected for al-Ḥusayn—peace be upon him—for his family and sons, and his clan erected their tents around his tent.
al-Ṭabarī
«فَسارَ [الحُسَينُ عليه السلام]، فَلَقِيَتهُ أوائِلُ خَيلِ عُبَيدِ اللَّهِ، فَلَمّا رَأى ذلِكَ عَدَلَ إلى كَربَلاءَ، فَأَسنَدَ ظَهرَهُ إلى قَصباءَ وخَلاً؛ كَيلا يُقاتِلَ إلّا مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ، فَنَزَلَ وضَرَبَ أبنِيَتَهُ.»
al-Ḥusayn proceeded until the vanguard of ʿUbayd Allāh’s cavalry encountered him. When he saw that, he turned toward Karbala and placed his rear against reeds and open vegetation, so that he would fight only from one direction. He then dismounted and erected his tents.
al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl — al-Dīnawarī:
«أمَرَ الحُسَينُ عليه السلام أصحابَهُ أن يَضُمّوا مَضارِبَهُم بَعضَهُم مِن بَعضٍ، ويَكونوا أمامَ البُيوتِ، وأن يَحفِروا مِن وَراءِ البُيوتِ اُخدوداً، وأن يُضرِموا فيهِ حَطَباً وقَصَباً كَثيراً؛ لِئَلّا يُؤتَوا مِن أدبارِ البُيوتِ، فَيَدخُلوها.»
al-Ḥusayn ordered his companions to draw their tents together, to position themselves in front of the tents, and to dig a trench behind the tents and kindle within it a large quantity of firewood and reeds, so that they would not be approached from behind the tents and entered upon through them.
Ibn Shahrāshūb — Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib:
«وأمَرَ بِأَطنابِ البُيوتِ، فَقُرِّبَت حَتّى دَخَلَ بَعضُها في بَعضٍ، وجَعَلوها وَراءَ ظُهورِهِم؛ لِيَكونَ الحَربُ مِن وَجهٍ واحِدٍ.»
He ordered that the tent ropes be brought close together until some entered into others, and they placed the tents behind their backs so that the battle would take place from one direction.
Important piece of the puzzle.
The return of ʿAlī al-Akbar’s body:
«فَحَمَلوهُ مِن مَصرَعِهِ حَتّى وَضَعوهُ بَينَ يَدَيِ الفُسطاطِ الَّذي كانوا يُقاتِلونَ أمامَهُ.»
They carried him from the place where he had fallen until they placed him before the pavilion in front of which they had been fighting.
Shows that there was one pavilion directly behind the army.
Summary
Shaykh Rayshahri's comments:
«إنّ انتشار خيام أصحاب الإمام عليه السلام كان على شكل قوس بحيث كانت خيام النساء في وسطه، وكان ضلعاها يمتدّان من الجانبين وحتّى ساحة الحرب.»
The distribution of the tents of the Imam’s companions was in the shape of a bow, such that the women’s tents were in its middle, while its two arms extended from the two sides as far as the battlefield.
«ومن المحتمل أنّ هذين الضلعين كانا يمثّلان خيام أصحاب الإمام التي كانت خالية في الغالب؛ بسبب تواجد أهلها في ساحة القتال، وكانوا يستخدمونها كمتاريس أو حواجز دفاعيّة.»
It is possible that these two arms consisted of the tents of the Imam’s companions, which were mostly empty because their occupants were present on the battlefield, and which were used as barricades or defensive barriers.
While it is not explicitly stated where the divide lies between the defensive tents and the main camps where the women and children were being housed, this reconstruction fits all the narrations that indirectly describe the main camp and can also be just illustrated as a missing piece in the puzzle. Which completes all of the camp reconstruction.
Reference twitter post on the actual camp reconstruction when drawn out on paper: https://x.com/QasimLolz/status/2067942569154122234?s=20