The great speech of Lady Zaynab has been an extension of the uprising of Karbala and a good representation of its values and goals. Lady Zaynab referred to the false elation of Yazid who thought of himself as victorious in that encounter. She uncovered the truth that his military superiority was transient and that Almighty Allah let the unbelievers enjoy bliss in this world so that their sons will increase and, thus, they will have a painful chastisement on the Day of Resurrection. She proved that all Yazid’s endeavors to eradicate the immortal good mention of the Ahl al-Bayt would fail, because they represent the right, which will inevitably triumph.
The great speech of Lady Zaynab has been an extension of the uprising of Karbala and a good representation of its values and goals. Let us now refer to some goals that the speech achieved:
1) Lady Zaynab referred to the false elation of Yazid who thought of himself as victorious in that encounter. She uncovered the truth that his military superiority was transient and that Almighty Allah let the unbelievers enjoy bliss in this world so that their sons will increase and, thus, they will have a painful chastisement on the Day of Resurrection.
2) She reproached Yazid for taking the harem of the Prophet’s Household as captives. While it was the Holy Prophet (s) who freed Yazid and his unbelieving family on the Conquest of Mecca while they were captives of the Islamic armies.
Instead of thanking the Prophet (s) who saved him from slavery, Yazid rewarded his family very badly.
3) She referred to the hereditary, educational, and psychological motives beyond Yazid’s slaying the Prophet’s family. She referred, as an instance, to his grandmother, Hind, who chewed the liver of Hamzah out of her limitless malice against the Prophet and the Hashemites, She also referred to Yazid’s grandfather Abu Sufyan who was the leading enemy of Islam and who led campaigns against the Prophet and his Divine Mission. Not forgetting Yazid’s father, Lady Zaynab referred to Mu’awiyah who slew innocent Muslims and violated all what Allah has deemed respected.
4) She disapproved of Yazid’s citing poetic verses in which he wished his forefathers whom were killed at the hands of Imam ‘Ali, as well as Muslim warriors, during their conflicts against the holy Prophet to be witnessing him so that they would take revenge upon the Holy Prophet. She also asserted to Yazid courageously that he would certainly face the same fate of those cursed forefathers.
5) She shed light on an important point; the tyrant, by slaying Imam al-Husayn and his pure family members and companions, has in fact slain himself, none else. The souls of the martyrs are pure, alive, abiding, and covered by auras of glory. Disgrace and loss would be Yazid’s only.
6) She mentioned those who paved the way to Yazid to hold such a position with words of scolding as she added them to Yazid. This point should be studied carefully.
7) She referred to her high standing and unreachable honor as another way of making little of the tyrant. Despite all the misfortunes that inflicted on her and weakened her, she showed her power and scolded the tyrant so harshly that he could not find any answer.
8) She proved that all Yazid’s endeavors to eradicate the immortal good mention of the Ahl al-Bayt would fail, because they represent the right, which will inevitably triumph.
Thus, days have proved that Imam al-Husayn and his party were the triumphant, while Yazid and his party have been always the losers. At any rate, the speech of Lady Zaynab includes tens of lessons not all of which can be contained in this brief study. It is quite enough to say that this speech was one of the deathblows that snapped the Umayyad State.
Having seen the collapse of his pride and arrogance, Yazid could not find any words to answer except citing a poetic verse not related to the subject in any extent. Moreover, the political atmospheres were over-clouded against him whose perplexity, owing to the scandalous situation that Lady Zaynab put him in, disabled him to do anything. He once tried to find himself excuses for his crime and, at other times, tried to make a comparison between the Imam and himself.