The Reward for Those Who Recite a Poem about Ĥusain (a.s.), Cry, and Make Others Cry

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said to me, “O Abā Hārūn! Recite a poem for me about Ḥusain (a.s.).” So I recited a poem for him and he cried. Then the Imam (a.s.) said, “Recite it in the same way that you (usually) recite – with a grief-stricken tone.” Then I recited (the poem which starts with) the following verse: “Pass by the grave of Ḥusain and say to his purified bones…” Imam (a.s.) cried and asked me to recite more poems for him. I recited another poem for him. The Imam (a.s.) cried (again) and I also heard (women) crying from behind the curtain. After I finished, the Imam (a.s.) said to me: O Abā Hārūn! If one recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries and makes ten people cry, Paradise will be registered for him and for them. If one recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries and makes five people cry, Paradise will be registered for him and for them. If one recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries and makes one person cry, Paradise will be registered for him and for he who cries. Those who shed tears when Ḥusain (a.s.) is mentioned in front of them will be rewarded by Allāh Himself, even if their tears are as small as the wing of a fly. And Allāh will not be pleased with any reward for them less than Paradise.

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said to me, “O Abā ‘Umārah! Recite a poem for me about Ḥusain (a.s.).” I recited a poem for him and he started to cry. Then I recited another poem and he cried (more). Then I recited another poem for him and he cried (even more). I swear to Allāh that I kept reciting poems for him and he kept crying, and I also heard (others) crying from inside the house as well. Then the Imam (a.s.) said to me: O Abā ‘Umārah! Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and makes fifty people cry will be rewarded with Paradise. Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and makes forty people cry will be rewarded with Paradise. Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and makes thirty people cry will be rewarded with Paradise. Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and makes twenty people cry will be rewarded with Paradise. Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and makes ten people cry will be rewarded with Paradise. Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and makes one person cry will be rewarded with Paradise. Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries will be rewarded with Paradise. Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and tries to cry will be rewarded with Paradise.

I went to Abī ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) and I recited a eulogy about Ḥusain (a.s.) for him. When I reached this verse: What a great disaster! Instead of scattering dust over Ḥusain, he was rolled in the dust! A woman who was crying from behind the curtain screamed, “O father!!!!!”

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said: If one recites one verse of a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries and makes ten people cry, he and those (who cry) will be rewarded with Paradise. If one recites one verse of a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries and makes nine people cry, he and those (who cry) will be rewarded with Paradise… Imam (a.s.) kept reducing from the number and repeating the same reward until he said: If one recites one verse of a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries (or even tries to cry), he will be rewarded with Paradise.

I went to Abī ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) and he asked me to recite a poem (about Ḥusain (a.s.)) for him. I started to recite a poem (without any intonation). So he (stopped me and) said, “No. Recite the way you usually recite (with intonation) and the way you recite eulogies by his grave.” I started to recite the poem (which begins with): “Pass by the grave of Ḥusain and say to his purified bones…” The Imam (a.s.) started to cry so I stopped. However, the Imam (a.s.) said to me, “Pass by (referring to the previous line of poetry, instructing me to continue).” After I finished reciting (this poem), Imam (a.s.) said, “Read more! Read more!” So I started reciting the following poem: O Maryam! Start the lamentation over your master, Ḥusain (a.s.), and shed abundant tears over him. When I read this verse, the Imam (a.s.) cried and the women (in his house) also cried and became restless. After the women calmed down, the Imam (a.s.) said to me: O Abā Hārūn! Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and makes ten people cry will be rewarded with Paradise. Then he kept reducing the number from ten (people) one by one until he reached one (person) and said: Anyone who recites a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and makes one person cry will be rewarded with Paradise. He (the Imam (a.s.)) added, “Anyone who remembers Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries will be rewarded with Paradise.”

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said, “There is a (known) reward for every act except for shedding tears over us.”

Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a.s.)) said: If one recites one verse of a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries and makes ten people cry, he and those (who cry) will be rewarded with Paradise. If one recites one verse of a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries and makes nine people cry, he and those (who cry) will be rewarded with Paradise… Imam (a.s.) kept reducing from the number and repeating the same reward until he said: Whoever recites one verse of a poem about Ḥusain (a.s.) and cries (or even tries to cry) will be rewarded with Paradise.