[The stage shows a desert camp. HUSSAIN, ZAINAB, and ABBAS are present.]
ZAINAB: Brother, the scouts report an army blocking our path. They will not let us proceed to Kufa.
HUSSAIN: Then we will stop here. This place—what is it called?
ABBAS: Karbala, my lord.
HUSSAIN: (looking around) Karbala. A name that will echo through the ages. Here, then, we will make our stand.
ZAINAB: You knew this would happen. You knew from the beginning.
HUSSAIN: (gently) Yes. But knowing does not mean fearing. We came not to win a battle but to make a point. Tyranny can kill the body, but it cannot kill the spirit.
ABBAS: We are seventy against thousands. The Euphrates is blocked. We have no water for the children.
HUSSAIN: And yet we have something they do not. We have the truth. When the dust settles and the blood dries, it is truth that will survive.
[A child's cry is heard offstage.]
ZAINAB: The little ones are thirsty.
HUSSAIN: (his voice breaking) This is the hardest part—not my own suffering, but theirs. Go to them, sister. Tell them stories of their grandfather. Tell them that sometimes love requires sacrifice, and sacrifice is not defeat.
[ZAINAB exits. HUSSAIN kneels in prayer.]