Abbas at the River

Abbas ibn Ali (peace be upon him) reached the Euphrates River after breaking through the enemy lines. Thirst had reached its peak in Hussein's tents, and the children cried out in parched agony.

Abbas knelt by the river, extended his hand, and scooped up the water, bringing it close to his lips to drink... but then he remembered his brother Hussein's thirst, he remembered Zaynab, Ruqayyah, and the infant Abdullah...

He recoiled from drinking, threw away the water, and said:

"O my soul, after Hussein, find solace... and after him, may you never be! 
This is Hussein, approaching death's embrace... and you would drink from the cool spring?!
By God, this is not my way..."

He refused to quench his own thirst before that of Hussein's family. He filled his waterskin and returned, but the enemies surrounded him, severing his right hand... so he carried the banner with his left, and they severed that too... but he did not retreat; instead, he embraced the waterskin with his severed arms.

Then an arrow struck his eye, and a blow fell upon his head, and he fell to the ground, calling out:

"Help me, O Aba Abdullah..."

Hussein rushed to him, and found his brother drenched in blood, without a banner, without hands, unable to see... so he sat beside him weeping, and said:

"Now my back is broken, my strength is diminished, and my enemy rejoices over me..."