Efforts to Secure Water
The access to water was cut off on the seventh day of Muharram and, before the evening of the eighth, the young, the children, and the women grew extremely restless, being overcome by the pangs of thirst. On the morning of the eighth, al-Abbas son of Ali ibn Abu Talib, al-Husayn’s brother, who was appointed by al-Husayn (ﻉ) as commander-in-chief of the tiny force, began digging wells assisted by all loyal companions and kinsmen of the Imam. They succeeded in boring a well, but stones were found instead of water. They soon dug another, but no water was found in it.
The Imam then requested his brother al-Abbas to go to fetch water from the Euphrates. Al-Abbas took thirty cavaliers and twenty footmen and twenty large-size empty water-bags. After a fierce battle at the river’s bank, they succeeded in fetching water. Although they themselves were extremely thirsty, they refused to drink before the others. Al-Abbas, hence, was given the title of “Saqqah,” the water-bearer, ever since.
When Omer ibn Sa’d came to know about this incident, he reinforced the detachment sent to guard the Euphrates against al-Husayn’s people having access to the water. The total force guarding the water now reached 800…! Ubaydullah ibn Ziyad himself sent a letter to Omer ibn Sa’d telling him that, “It is necessary to take more precautions so that they (al-Husayn’s folks) may not be able to obtain a drop of water.”