Excerpt from 'Maqtal al-Husayn':
‘Umar Ibn Sa’d ordered ‘Izra Ibn Qays al-Ahmasi to meet al-Husayn (‘a) and to ask him about what had brought him here, but ‘Izra requested to be relieved of having to do so, saying that he was one of those who had written al-Husayn (‘a). He asked the other prominent chiefs with him, but they, too, asked to be excused for the same reason...
Kathir Ibn ‘Ubaydullah al-Sha’bi stood up, and he was quite a daring man. He leaned on his cane and said, 'I can meet him, and if you wish, I shall kill him, too.' Ibn Sa’d said, 'No, do not kill him but ask him about what had brought him there.'
Kathir came to meet the Imam (A); he was recognized by Abu Thumama al-Sa’idi who stood up in his face and shouted at him to put his sword on the ground before entering the Imam's tent. He refused, so he was turned away. ‘Umar Ibn Sa’d called upon Qurrah Ibn Qays al-Hanzali to ask al-Husayn (‘a) the same question.
Qurrah delivered the message that he had brought from Ibn Sa’d to the Imam who responded by saying, 'The people of your land wrote me asking me to go to them; so, if you now hate my presence, I shall go somewhere else.' The messenger went back and conveyed these words to Ibn Sa’d who, in turn, wrote Ibn Ziyad informing him of what al-Husayn (A) had said.
Soon the answer came: 'Give Husayn and his band the option to swear the oath of allegiance to Yazid. If he does, we will decide what to do with him.'