It should come as no surprise that Ja`far ibn Abî Tâlib took up the flag in his right
hand, then his right hand was cut off, but his soul did not allow him to let
the flag go down because his heart had lifted up the flag well before his hand!
The flag was in his heart. So the left hand took it up, then the left hand was
cut off, then he carried it up with his two limbs, then he fell on the ground
but the flag never fell from him. In his body there were over eighty cuts from
sword-blows, spears, and arrows. All these cuts were in the front of his body
for he had been facing the enemy at all times and never thought of fleeing.
Stranger yet is that when water was presented to him so that he could relieve
his thirst in the throes of death, lips parched, completely exhausted, he said:
“I am fasting.”
These are the attributes with which God granted them victory. “I am fasting.”
They said: "In such a time, on such a day? Break your fast today and you will
fast again tomorrow!" He replied: “I long to break my fast in Paradise .” Such
was his state. Then he gave up the spirit [in Mu’ta, Jordan ], and the Beloved
Elect - upon him blessings and peace - was sitting in the presence of his Companions
[in Madîna] when he described the entire battle in detail. After this, he -
upon him blessings and peace - rose his head and said: "Wa-`alayk as-Salâm,
wa-rahmatullâh, wa-barakâtuh, O Ja`far!" The Companions expressed surprise,
whereupon he said: "That was Ja`far, the angels carried his spirit to Paradise
and he refused to enter it until he first greeted me!"
How many of us complain that tarawih is too long? =P