Tradition 1: I (the narrator) came to Amir Al-Mu’minin ('a) and found Imam Al-Husayn ('a) besides him. He tapped Husayn's shoulder and remarked, “He will be slain and no one will help him.” “O Amir Al-Mu’minin, by Allah, this life is miserable!” I said. “Indeed, it will happen thus,” he ('a) replied.

Tradition 2: Ali ('a) said to Imam Al-Husayn ('a), “O Abu Abdullah, it is established that you will be a leading example.” “May I be sacrificed on you, what would be my condition?” Imam Al-Husayn ('a) asked. “You know what others do not and very soon they shall benefit from their knowledge. My son, listen to this before it happens to you. By the one Who has my life in His Hand, Bani Umayyah will shed your blood but will not be able to separate you from your faith nor will they be able to make you forget your Lord.

Imam Al-Husayn ('a) said, “I swear by one who has my life in His Hand that this is sufficient for me. I submit to that which Allah has revealed, I testify to the statements of Allah's Messenger (S) and I do not falsify the statements of my father.”

Tradition 3: Ali ('a) said: Indeed, Husayn ('a) will be slain in a cruel manner. Indeed, I know the land on which he will be slain and I know that the land is near two streams.

Tradition 4: Abdullah Ibn Zubair had a long private meeting with Imam Al-Husayn ('a) after which Imam ('a) came to the people and said: He (Abdullah) is telling me to be like a pigeon of Masjid Al-Haram. But you should know that I would prefer being killed while I am as far as the span of two outstretched arms from the Holy Sanctuary than to be killed while I am as close as one span from the Holy Sanctuary. And also, it would be better if my blood is shed in Taff rather than I should be killed in the Holy Sanctuary.

Tradition 5: Abdullah Ibn Zubair advised Imam Al-Husayn ('a) to come to Mecca and seek refuge in the Holy Sanctuary but Imam Al-Husayn ('a) said, “Neither do we consider it lawful nor you should do so on our behalf. Indeed, I prefer to be killed on a mound of red dust than be killed in the Holy Sanctuary.

Tradition 6: Imam Al-Baqir ('a) said: Imam Al-Husayn ('a) left Mecca a day before the day of Tarwiyah. Abdullah Ibn Zubair accompanied him and said, “Abu Abdullah! It is time for Hajj and you are leaving Mecca for Iraq?”

Imam Al-Husayn ('a) replied, “O Ibn Zubair! Indeed, I prefer to be buried on the banks of Euphrates than around Mecca.”

Tradition 7: Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) said: His Eminence, Husayn Ibn Ali ('a) said to his companions on the day they were surrounded by calamities, “I bear witness that permission has been granted for you to be killed, so adopt piety and be patient.”

Tradition 8: Same as 7.

Tradition 9: He said: I swear by One who established the Arsh, your father accurately narrated about the companions of Imam Al-Husayn ('a): This Ummah will oppress the companions of Imam Al-Husayn ('a) just like Bani Israel transgressed on Saturday and His Eminence, was (also) martyred on Saturday, the tenth of Moharram.

Tradition 10: Same as no. 7.

Tradition 11: When Uthman expelled Abu Dharr to Rabadhah, people said to him, “O Abu Dharr! Glad tidings to you, for indeed, this torment is little in the way of the Almighty Allah.”

Abu Dharr said: This torment is easy but how will you be when Husayn Ibn Ali ('a) is martyred in a cruel way?

By Allah, no killing in Islam will be greater than the killing of Imam Al-Husayn ('a) and Allah will soon unsheathe the sword of revenge against this Ummah and will never sheathe it. Allah will send an avenger from the progeny of Imam Al-Husayn ('a) who will take revenge from people. And if you knew the grief which will befall the folks of the seas, mountains and forests and hills and heavens due to the killing of Imam Al-Husayn (‘a), you would weep so much that you would die. There is no sky through which the soul of Imam Al-Husayn (‘a) will pass but that seventy thousand angels will be in grief in it. They will all stand with their joints shaking until Judgment Day. And there is no cloud that passes, but that its thunder and lightning curses the killers of Husayn ('a). And there is no day but that the soul of His Eminence, is presented to Allah's Messenger (S) and they meet each other.

Tradition 12: Amir Al-Mu’minin ('a) said in a sermon, “Ask me, before you are deprived of me! By Allah, I will answer anything pertaining to the past or future.”

Saad Ibn Abi Waqqas asked, “O Amir Al-Mu’minin, how many strands of hair do I have on my head and in my beard?”

Amir Al-Mu’minin ('a) replied, “By Allah, my beloved, Allah's Messenger (S), informed me that you would ask me that question. There is a Shaitan rooted in every hair of your head and beard and there is a baby sheep in your house who will kill my son, Husayn ('a).”

The narrator says: At that time Umar Ibn Saad was only a child.

Tradition 13: Imam Al-Husayn ('a) said: I swear by the one in whose hands is the life of Husayn, the regime of Bani Umayyah will not end till they kill me and they will be my killers. So, if they kill me, people will never be able to pray behind a just Imam in congregation nor will be able to spend Zakat in the way of Allah again. My Ahl Al-Bayt and I are the first to be killed by this Ummah. I swear by one in whose Hand is the life of Husayn, Judgment Day will not arrive as long as there is even one man from Bani Hashim alive.

Tradition 14: After Husayn Ibn Ali ('a) passed Aqabah Al-Batn, he said to his companions, “I do not see anything for myself but being slain.”

“Why is it so, Abu Abdullah?” the companions asked. “Because of a dream I saw,” Imam Al-Husayn ('a) replied. “What is its interpretation?” they asked.

“I saw dogs biting me and the worst of them was having white spots.”

Tradition 15: Imam Al-Husayn ('a) wrote to Muhammad Hanfiyyah from Mecca:

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Husayn Ibn Ali to Muhammad Ibn Ali and those with him from Bani Hashim: So to say: All those who join me will be martyred and those who do not, will not see victory and success. Wa assalaam.

Tradition 16: Imam Al-Baqir ('a) said: Husayn Ibn Ali ('a) wrote a letter from Karbala to Muhammad Ibn Hanafiyyah: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From Husayn Ibn Ali to Muhammad Ibn Ali and those with him from Bani Hashim: As if this life never existed and the Hereafter has always been there. And peace (be on you).