The martyr is often reassured in his resolve in ways which the historian chooses to reject or at least disregard as unscientific evidence. But for those to whom the martyr’s death is in the end more significant than his life, ...

All this suggests other aspects of the story of the conflict of Husayn with the Umayyads and his martyrdom which we do not know. From all avail­able sources one must conclude that he had such definite fears and resolu­tions that ...