His [Siyyid Kázim’s] passing raised a tumult in Karbilá
similar to the agitation that seized its people the preceding year, on the eve
of the day of Árafih, when the victorious enemy forced the gates of the citadel
and massacred a considerable number of its besieged inhabitants. A year before,
on that day, his house had been the one haven of peace and security for the
bereaved and homeless, whereas now it had become a house of sorrow where those
whom he had befriended and succoured bewailed his passing and mourned his
loss.
(Chapter 2, ‘The Dawn-Breakers’)
