Indeed, when Al-Husayn went out to Iraq, God, exalted is His glory, was veiled by Him. Whenever He stopped, Gabriel would come to Him and talk to Him. Then, when it was the day the armies gathered against Him, the horses were lined up before Him, and the war was fully engaged, our Mawlana Al-Husayn, exalted is His glory, called Gabriel and asked him: 'O Gabriel, who am I?' He replied: 'You are God, the Living, the Sustainer, the Giver of Life, the Bringer of Death. You are the one who commands the sky, and it obeys You, and the earth, and it submits to Your command, and the mountains, and they answer You, and the seas, and they hasten to obey You. You are the one whom the plot of a plotter cannot reach, nor the harm of a hurter.'

Al-Husayn then said: 'O Gabriel!' He answered: 'Here I am, O my Mawla!' He said: 'Does this weak, inverted creature think to kill their Master?' He replied: 'Yes, my Master, their souls tell them to kill their Master due to their weakness, but they cannot reach that, nor can they reach any of Your friends, just as they could not reach Jesus, John (Yahya), or Amir Al-Mouminine, so that the punishment may fall upon them after the proof and clarification.'

Al-Husayn said: 'O Gabriel!' He answered: 'Here I am!' He said: 'Go to this weak, inverted, cursed, misguided denier, and ask him: Who do you intend to fight?'

So he departed in the form of a strange, unrecognized man until he entered upon Umar ibn Sa'd, who was sitting on his throne with his commanders, guards, and gatekeepers before him. Gabriel broke through their ranks until he reached him and stood before him. When Umar ibn Sa'd looked at him, he was suspicious and seized with intense fear. He asked him: 'Who are you, O servant of God?' He replied: 'I am a servant of God. I have come to ask you about your command, so answer me.' He said to him: 'Ask.' He said: 'I ask you why you have come, and whom you intend to fight?' He said: 'I have come with my army and my commanders. I intend to fight Al-Husayn ibn Ali, and this is the letter from Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, urging me and commanding me to kill Al-Husayn ibn Ali, send his head to him, and then to retire from the army.' Gabriel asked him: 'What have you resolved?' He said: 'To kill him.' Gabriel said to him: 'Woe to you! Do you kill the Lord of the Worlds, the God of the first and the last, and the Creator of the heavens and the earths and what is between them?'