Imam Abu Talib Yahya Ibn Zayd Ibn Ali (D. 126AH)
Imam Abu Ṭālib Yaḥyā ibn Imam Zayd ibn Ali
Peace Be Upon Him
He rose (peace be upon him) after his father, and was martyred at the age of twenty-eight years. The one who killed Yaḥyā (peace be upon him) had seen in a dream that he was killing a prophet.
Imam al-Hādī ilā al-Ḥaqq Yaḥyā ibn al-Ḥusayn (peace be upon him) said, in the context of the Imams:
“The like of Zayd ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ‘Ali ibn Abī Ṭālib — the Imam of the God-fearing, and the one who stood with the proof of the Lord of all worlds — and the like of his son Yaḥyā ibn Zayd, who followed in his footsteps.”
Imam Abu Ṭālib said in Al-Ifādah: The genealogists of the Ṭālibiyyah unanimously agree that he fathered Umm al-Ḥasan Ḥasanah. Others said he also had Aḥmad and al-Ḥusayn, but they died in infancy; Umm al-Ḥusayn also died in infancy. They all agree that Yaḥyā (peace be upon him) left no surviving lineage. — End, in summary.
- Umm al-Ḥasan Ḥasanah agreed upon by all genealogists of the Ṭālibiyyah
- Aḥmad died in infancy — reported by some
- Al-Ḥusayn died in infancy — reported by some
- Umm al-Ḥusayn died in infancy — reported by some
All genealogists agree that Imam Yaḥyā (peace be upon him) left no surviving lineage.
Among his words to his companions in one of his stances:
“O servants of God, the appointed term is the place where death is present, and death is a swift pursuer — no fugitive escapes it, and no one who stays behind can exhaust it. So advance — may God have mercy upon you — toward your enemy, and join your forebears. Paradise! Paradise! — Advance and do not falter, for there is no honour more honourable than martyrdom.”
He also addressed himself in verse, calling himself to follow in his father’s path:
O son of Zayd — did not Zayd say:
whoever loves life shall live in humiliation?
Be like Zayd, for you are the soul of Zayd —
and you shall find in the gardens a deep and lasting shade.
— Imam Yaḥyā ibn Zayd (peace be upon him)
He was martyred during the days of the Pharaoh of this community, al-Walīd ibn Yazīd ibn ‘Abd al-Malik al-Umawī — after the Friday prayer, in the month of Ramaḍān, in the year one hundred and twenty-six. May God’s prayers and peace be upon him.
Scholarly References & Annotations
Al-Qaṭaṭ (with two fatḥahs): tightly and intensely curled hair; some say: beautifully curled — noted by the Author (peace be upon him).