The Blessed Birth
Bibi Zainab was the third child of Imam Ali (as) and Sayyida Fatimah (sa) — born right after this brother.
Who is Imam Husayn (as)?
The caravan — with Bibi Zainab as chief lady of the harem — left Medina on the 28th of this month, 60 AH.
What is Rajab?
From the night of Ashura onward, her constant weeping earned her this epithet, meaning "one who weeps".
What is al-Bakiyah (Baakiyah)?
As the captive caravan entered Kufa, Imam Zayn al-Abidin praised his aunt: "You are, by the grace of Allah, a scholar without being taught, and one of deep understanding without" this.
What is "being instructed"?
For the lifetime of sorrows she bore — from the Prophet's passing to Karbala — she is called Umm al-Masa'ib, meaning this.
What is "mother of calamities"?
She was born in Medina on the 5th of this Islamic month, in 5 AH.
What is Jumada al-Ula?
During Imam Ali's caliphate, while the family lived in Kufa, she held these scholarly sessions for the city's women.
What are tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) sessions?
The two sons of Bibi Zainab who were martyred at Karbala.
Who are Awn and Muhammad?
Her Kufa sermon opened by addressing the city's people with this blistering title.
What is "O people of deceit and treachery"?
"'Aqilat Bani Hashim" honors her as the "wise woman of" this clan.
What is Banu Hashim?
When both Imam Ali and the Prophet (s) declined to name her before the other, this angel descended with her name, chosen by Allah.
Who is Jibraeel (as)?
In Medina her regular women's gatherings on the precepts of the deen earned her the epithets Fasihah ("skillfully fluent") and Balighah, meaning this.
What is "intensely eloquent"?
On Ashura morning, before going into battle, Imam Husayn visited the tent of this ill son, who was being nursed by Bibi Zainab.
Who is Ali Zayn al-Abidin (Imam Zayn al-Abidin)?
Hauled before Ibn Ziyad, who gloated "How do you see what Allah did to your brother?", she answered with the immortal words "Ma ra'aytu illa" this.
What is "jamila" — beauty? (I saw nothing but beauty)
The great scholar Ayatullah al-Khu'i wrote of her eloquence that whenever she spoke, it was as if this man himself were speaking.
Who is her father, Imam Ali (as)?
Her name joins "zayn" and "ab" — together meaning this in English.
What is "adornment of the father"?
The commander whose army intercepted Imam Husayn's caravan and forced it to halt at Karbala.
Who is Hurr ibn Yazid al-Riyahi?
When the tents were looted and burned, she gathered the scattered women and children — but this young daughter of Imam Husayn was missing, until found clinging to her father's body.
Who is Sakina bint al-Husayn?
She opened her court sermon quoting Aal Imran (3:178): "Let not those who disbelieve think that Our giving them respite is" this.
What is "good for them"?
As her mother is al-Siddiqah al-Kubra, the senior veracious, she is honored as al-Siddiqah al-Sughra — "the junior" this.
What is "veracious (lady)"?
Holding her for the first time, the Prophet (s) kissed her and said she resembled this beloved wife of his.
Who is Khadija al-Kubra (sa)?
Even on the most terrible night of her life — the eve of the 11th of Muharram — she did not abandon this nightly worship.
What is tahajjud (Salat al-Layl, the night vigil)?
When Shimr entered the tent to kill the fever-stricken Ali Zayn al-Abidin, she threw herself over him crying: "By Allah, you shall not kill him until" this.
What is "you kill me (first)"?
In Yazid's court she quoted verse 10 of this surah: "Then the end of those who did evil was evil, because they denied the signs of Allah."
What is Surah al-Rum?
To distinguish her from her younger sister Umm Kulthum — called Zaynab al-Sughra — she herself is titled Zaynab this.
What is al-Kubra?