Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh

(b d ') Abdullah ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh ibn al-Harith ibn Hubayb ibn Jadhima ibn Malik ibn Hisl ibn Amir ibn Lu'ayy al-Qurashi al-Amiri, of Quraysh al-Zawahir, and not of Quraysh al-Bitah; his kunya was Abu Yahya, and he was the foster-brother of Uthman ibn Affan, for his mother had suckled Uthman.

He accepted Islam before the conquest and emigrated to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

He used to write the revelation for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; then he apostatized as a polytheist and went over to Quraysh in Mecca, and he said to them: Indeed I used to direct Muhammad wherever I wished; he would dictate to me: «Mighty, Wise» and I would say: «Or Knowing, Wise»? And he would say: «Yes, all is correct».

So when the day of the conquest came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered his killing and the killing of Abdullah ibn Khatal and Miqyas ibn Subaba, even if they were found beneath the curtains of the Ka'ba. So Abdullah ibn Sa'd fled to Uthman ibn Affan, and Uthman hid him until he brought him to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the people of Mecca had become tranquil, and he sought safe-conduct for him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained silent for a long while, then he said: «Yes. So when Uthman departed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to those around him: I remained silent only so that one of you might rise to him and strike his neck. So a man from the Ansar said: Why then did you not gesture to me, O Messenger of Allah? So he said: Indeed it is not fitting for a Prophet to have treachery of the eyes» (٢).

And he accepted Islam that day, and his Islam was excellent, and nothing blameworthy appeared from him after that. And he was one of the wise and noble men of Quraysh. Then Uthman appointed him over Egypt after that, in the year twenty-five, and Allah granted conquest at his hands over Ifriqiya (١), and it was a great conquest in which the share of the horseman reached three thousand mithqals, and the share of the foot-soldier one thousand mithqals. And present with him at this conquest were Abdullah ibn Umar, Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, and Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As. And he was the horseman of Banu Amir ibn Lu'ayy, and he was on the right wing of Amr ibn al-As when he conquered Egypt, and in all his wars there; so when Uthman appointed him over Egypt and dismissed Amr from it, Amr began to slander Uthman and to incite against him and to strive in corrupting his affair.

And Abdullah ibn Sa'd campaigned, after Ifriqiya, against the Aswad of the land of Nubia in the year thirty-one. And he is [the one who] concluded with them the truce that remains until this day, and he waged the Battle of the Masts (al-Sawari) at sea against the Romans (٢).

And when the people fell into discord against Uthman may Allah be pleased with him, Abdullah set out from Egypt heading for Uthman, and he appointed as his deputy over Egypt al-Sa'ib ibn Hisham ibn Amr al-Amiri; but Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa ibn Utba ibn Rabi'a ibn Umayya al-Umawi gained the upper hand over him, removed al-Sa'ib from it, and made himself commander over Egypt. So Abdullah ibn Sa'd returned, but Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa prevented him from entering al-Fustat, so he went on to Asqalan and stayed there until Uthman was killed, and it is said: rather he stayed at al-Ramla until he died, fleeing from the sedition. And we have related these wars and events in full detail in «al-Kamil» on history.

And Abdullah ibn Sa'd supplicated and said: «O Allah, make the seal of my deeds the prayer». So he prayed the dawn prayer and recited in the first rak'a Umm al-Qur'an and al-Adiyat, and in the second Umm al-Qur'an and a sura, and he gave the salutation to his right, then went to give the salutation to his left and passed away, and he did not pledge allegiance to Ali nor to Mu'awiya. And it is said: rather he witnessed Siffin with Mu'awiya.

And it is said: he did not witness it. And that is the correct view.

And he died at Asqalan (٣): in the year thirty-six, and it is said: in the year thirty-seven. And it is said: he remained until the last days of Mu'awiya and died in the year fifty-nine. And the first is the more correct.

The Three transmitted it.

I say: Ibn Manda and Abu Nu'aym erred in his lineage, for they placed «Hubayb» before «al-Harith», which is nothing; then they said: «Jadhima ibn Nasr ibn Malik». But rather Jadhima is the son of Malik. Then they said:

«al-Qurashi of Banu Ma'is». And this is a second error, for Hisl is the brother of Ma'is ibn Amir, and he is not a father to him, nor a son (١); and the correct view is the placing of «al-Harith» before «Hubayb». Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar said, and to him the knowledge of the lineages of Quraysh came to its end, he said: «And Amir ibn Lu'ayy ibn Ghalib begot: Hisl (٢) ibn Amir, and Ma'is ibn Amir; so Hisl ibn Amir begot: Malik ibn Hisl; so Malik ibn Hisl begot: Nasr and Jadhima, the sons of Malik ibn Hisl», then he mentioned the offspring of Nasr ibn Malik, then he said: «And Jadhima, who is Shahham ibn Malik ibn Hisl ibn Amir ibn Lu'ayy, begot Hubayb, who is the son of Shahham; so Hubayb ibn Jadhima begot: al-Harith; so al-Harith ibn Hubayb begot: Rabi'a and Abu Sarh; and Abu al-Sarh ibn al-Harith ibn Hubayb ibn Jadhima ibn Malik ibn Hisl begot: Sa'd; so Sa'd begot: Abdullah ibn Sa'd, and he was the foster-brother of Uthman».

This is the meaning of what al-Zubayr said, and the like of it Ibn al-Kalbi said.

Hubayb: with a damma on the undotted ha', and a lightening of the ya' which has two dots beneath it; al-Kalbi, Ibn Makula and others said it. And al-Kalbi said: rather «Hassan» made it heavy out of necessity. And Ibn Habib said: it is Hubayyib, with a doubling of the ya'.