Kumayl ibn Ziyād al-Nakhaʿī was among the most intimate companions of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — counted by ʿAlī himself among his ten most faithful disciples. He…
Kumayl ibn Ziyād al-Nakhaʿī was among the most intimate companions of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — counted by ʿAlī himself among his ten most faithful disciples. He was a nobleman of Kufa from the tribe of Nakhaʿ, and one of ʿAlī's closest associates from the very beginning of his caliphate. ʿAlī appointed him governor of Hīt, a strategic region to the north of Kufa, where he served with distinction. He is above all inseparable from the celebrated supplication that bears his name — Duʿāʾ Kumayl — which ʿAlī taught him in private, a prayer that has been recited across the Islamic world on Thursday nights ever since. He lived into very old age, eventually going into hiding when al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf was appointed over Iraq and began hunting down the companions of ʿAlī. When al-Ḥajjāj cut off the pensions of Kumayl's relatives from the public treasury, Kumayl gave himself up, saying he would not allow his family to suffer on his account. He presented himself to al-Ḥajjāj and told him plainly: "My master ʿAlī informed me that you would be my killer." Al-Ḥajjāj ordered his beheading. Kumayl was approximately ninety years of age at the time of his martyrdom. His maqām stands in the area of Thuwayya between Najaf and Kufa, adjacent to Masjid al-Ḥannāna, on a hill within the sacred landscape of Wādī al-Salām. The maqām was first formally built in 1950 and has been expanded and restored several times since. It remains an active centre of devotion and learning, drawing visitors throughout the year.