The Merits of Karbalā and the Ziyārah of Ĥusain — Hadith 11

11. My father and Muḥammad ibn Ḥasan both narrated to me from Ḥasan ibn Mattīl, from Sahl ibn Ziyād, from ‘Ali ibn Asbāť, from Muḥammad ibn Sinān, from someone who narrated to him, who said: Abū ‘Abdillāh (Imam Sādiq (a. s. )) said: The Commander of the Believers, ‘Ali (a. s. ), was traveling with some people and when they were at the distance of one or two miles before Karbalā, the Commander of the Believers (a. s. ) went ahead of them. When he reached the place of the martyrdom of the martyrs (of Karbalā) he said, “Two hundred prophets, two hundred successors, and two hundred of the grandsons of the prophets have died here and all of them and all of their followers were martyrs. ” Then the Commander of the Believers (a. s. ) circulated that land on his mule with his legs withdrawn from the stirrups and said, “This is where they will descend from their sumpters and this is where the martyrs will be killed. No one from the past has preceded them in rank and no one in the future will (ever) attain their rank. ”