Sayyida Zaynab's answer to Ibn Ziyad

Ibn Ziyad said to her: How did you see what God did to your brother and your family? She said:

Speaker: Sayyida Zaynab
Where and when: Kufa, the palace of Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad, 61 AH, when he asked her how she saw what God had done to her brother
Preserved in: al-Luhuf (Ibn Tawus), p. 160; Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 45, pp. 115-116
Translation: standard rendering · text

مَا رَأَيْتُ إِلَّا جَمِيلًا، هَؤُلَاءِ قَوْمٌ كَتَبَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَتْلَ فَبَرَزُوا إِلَى مَضَاجِعِهِمْ، وَسَيَجْمَعُ اللَّهُ بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُمْ فَتُحَاجُّ وَتُخَاصَمُ، فَانْظُرْ لِمَنِ الْفَلْجُ يَوْمَئِذٍ، ثَكِلَتْكَ أُمُّكَ يَا ابْنَ مَرْجَانَةَ

I have seen nothing but beauty. These are people for whom God decreed death, so they went forth to their resting places. And God will bring you and them together, and you will be argued against and contended with. So see who will prevail on that day. May your mother lose you, O son of Marjana!