Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

Likewise his statement when he saw the family of Ḥusayn I and his children
in a pitiable situation, overcome by disgrace and humility:
قبح الله ابن مرجانة لو كانت بينكم وبينه قرابة ما فعل بكم هذا
May Allah humiliate Ibn Marjānah! Had there been any kinship between
you and him he would never have done this to you. 1
In the words of Yazīd, ‘If he was his cousin’ and ‘had there been any kinship
between you and him’ is a subtle attack on the lineage of Ibn Ziyād, i.e. by hinting
to the fact that convention has always compelled closely related individuals
to stand up for one another; even in times of intense acrimony their hearts
would not allow them to mutilate their bodies or allow people to disgrace them
and humiliate them. What Yazīd meant was that had there been close kinship
between Ḥusayn I and Ibn Ziyād it would have barred him from killing him
and disgracing his household, as long as his objective of subduing him would be
achieved without having the need to kill and take revenge. This is exactly what
had moved him and is clear from the following statement:
أما والله يا حسين،‏ لو أني صاحبك ما قتلتك
By Allah, O Ḥusayn, if your affair was in my hand I would not have killed
you. 2
It was due to this familial aspect that he responded with the following to Muḥaffiz
ibn Thaʿlabah 3 who came to him with the head of Ḥusayn I and said, “I have
come to you with the head of most wretched of the Arabs”:
1 Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī 3/239; al-Muntaẓam 5/343; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/194.
2 Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī 3/328; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 34/316; Tārīkh al-Islam 5/18; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah
8/191.
3 Muḥaffiz (Miḥfaz) ibn Thaʿlabah ibn Murrah al-ʿᾹʾidhī al-Qurashī. The person who brought the
head of Ḥusayn I to Yazīd. His son ʿUbayd Allah ibn Muḥaffiz narrated from him. See: Tārīkh
Madīnah Dimashq 57/96; al-Ikmāl 7/164; Tawḍīḥ al-Mushtabih 8/57.
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