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Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib al-Zubaīdi al-Madḥ'hijī () (died 642 CE) was an Arabian cavalry commander of the Zubaid clan in
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
, part of the Madhhij tribe confederation. Amr is considered a legendary warrior, battling against legendary figures like Amir ibn Tufail, Antarah ibn Shaddad and Dorayd bin Al Soma. Amr converted to
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
in the time of the
Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...
Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, and became one of the two champions of the
Rashidun caliphate The Rashidun Caliphate () is a title given for the reigns of first caliphs (lit. "successors") — Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali collectively — believed to Political aspects of Islam, represent the perfect Islam and governance who led the ...
, along with Tulayha. Both were said to have the strength of a thousand soldiers. Amr participated in the
battle of the Yarmuk The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk; ) was a major battle between the Byzantine army, army of the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Muslim Rashidun army, forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements ...
and the battle of al-Qadisiyyah against the elephants of the Sassanids. He also led the Rashidun in the battle of Jalula, and served in the Muslim conquest of Khorasan. Amr was killed during the
Battle of Nahavand The Battle of Nahavand ( ', '), also spelled Nihavand or Nahawand, was fought in 642 between the Rashidun Caliphate, Rashidun Muslims, Muslim Rashidun army, forces under Caliphate, caliph Umar and Sasanian Empire, Sasanian Persian armies under ...
in 642 CE. Amr had several swords that became the subjects of certain legends of later
Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ''ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy'') is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existe ...
, particularly during the
Abbasid caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...
, such as swords named Dhu al-Nun, al-Qalzam and ash-Shamsharah. Arab tribes residing mainly in Iraq, particularly the sub-branches of Zubaid such as Jubur, Obaid and
Al Uqaydat Al-Uqaydat () is a large Arab tribe which straddles Syria's eastern border with Iraq. It is the largest tribe in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Deir ez-Zor province and according to Max von Oppenheim, it is the largest tribe in all of Mesopotamia. M ...
, claim to be direct patrilineal descendants of Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib.


Biography

At the time of Muhammad, the Zubaidi clan of the
Qahtanite The Qahtanites (; ), also known as Banu Qahtan () or by their nickname ''al-Arab al-Ariba'' (), are the Arabs who originate from modern-day Yemen. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple Ancient South Arabian script, Ancient South Arabian ins ...
tribal confederation had split into two groups, which were called ''Zubaid al-Kabir'' (Zubaid the greater) and ''Zubaid al-Asgar'' (Zubaid the lesser). The ''Zubaid al-Asgar'' traced their progeny from a sub branch of the Banu Asam clan. Amr hailed from the ''Zubaid al-Asgar'' subdivision, and his father, Maʻadī Yakrib ibn Abd Allah, was the clan chieftain. Amr is considered by modern historians to be born 75 years before the
Hijri year The Hijri year () or era () is the era used in the Islamic lunar calendar. It begins its count from the Islamic New Year in which Muhammad and his followers migrated from Mecca to Yathrib (now Medina) in 622 CE. This event, known as the Hij ...
. Amr had a sister named Rayhanah, and a brother named Abd, who was killed by a Yemenite Madhhij tribe which came from a different branch of the Zubaidi clan. Classical sources state that Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib had lived long before the founding of Islam, as he met
Abd al-Muttalib Shayba ibn Hāshim (; ), better known as ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, () was the fourth chief of the Quraysh tribal confederation and grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Early life His father was Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf,Muhammad ibn Sa ...
, grandfather of Muhammad. He also met Abraha, a famous Aksumite warlord who, according to a narrative from the Al-Fil chapter of the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
, was destroyed by the hell birds sent by God during his invasion of
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
. Amr was also able to point out several historical landmarks of early medieval Yemen, such as a fortress built by Abraha which was called al-Ma'in fortress. Due to his skill in poetry, Amr once also served as a delegation of poets of Lakhmid king
Al-Nu'man III ibn al-Mundhir Al-Nuʿmān III ibn al-Mundhir (), also transcribed Naʿaman, Nuʿaman and Noman and often known by the patronymic Abu Qabus (), was the last Lakhmid king of al-Hirah (582 – ) and a Nestorian Christian Arab. He is considered one of the mos ...
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Pre-Islamic battles

As Amr lived to a great age spanning from before the advent of Islam, he participated in many battles. His career of raids and battles that filled most of his pre-Islamic lifetime were recorded with varying levels of accountability. Yemeni Mu'tazilite scholar Nashwan ibn Sa'id Al-Hamiri has said that Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib reached mythical reputation in pre-Islamic or
Jahiliyyah In Islamic salvation history, the ''Jāhiliyyah'' (Age of Ignorance) is an era of pre-Islamic Arabia as a whole or only of the Hejaz leading up to the lifetime of Muhammad. The Arabic expression (meaning literally “the age or condition of i ...
chronicles. As indicated from ancient poems, it was recorded that Amr had defeated and captured many pre-Islamic Arabian legendary warriors such as Amir ibn al-Tufail, the chieftain of the Amir ibn Sa'sa'ah tribe, , , Antarah ibn Shaddad and Durayd ibn Summah al-Jashimi. Some legendary traditional stories also depicted Amr's extraordinary feat of encountering two lionesses and killing both in the same fight. The battle between Amr and Antarah was one of the most quoted poems since it was regarded as the clash between two of the best warrior poets of the era. Amr was said to have been the son of one of the rivals of Antarah. The duel between Antara and Amr, and its conclusion where Amr subdued his powerful enemy and later freed him were depicted in the poems recorded by Abu al-ʽAbbās Thaʽlab. The capture of Antarah happened during a battle which was called ''Ghazwat al-Tatlit''. The duel was also recorded in the
Al-ʿIqd al-Farīd ''al-ʿIqd al-Farīd'' (''The Unique Necklace'', ) is an anthology attempting to encompass 'all that a well-informed person had to know in order to pass in society as a cultured and refined individual' (or ''Adab (literature), adab''), composed b ...
. Amr's duel with Durayd was also famous. Durayd was known as a hero from
Hawazin The Hawazin ( / ALA-LC: ''Hawāzin'') were an Arab tribe originally based in the western Najd and around Ta'if in the Hejaz. They formed part of the larger Qays tribal group. The Hawazin consisted of the subtribes of Banu Sa'd, and Banu Jusham, a ...
, who had experienced more than a hundred battles during his life including the Fijar Wars, and lived for more than one hundred years, before being slain in the battle of Hunain against Muhammad. Abu Ubaydah Mu'ammar ibn Muthanna, a famous writer from Basra during the 8th century, described Amr, Antarah, and Durayd as three of the finest cavaliers of the ancient era. Amr first meet Durayd during a raid against Hawazin. When Durayd later raided the Zubaidi clan and captured Rayhana, Amr's sister, this prompted Amr and his clan to repeatedly attack Hawazin, until they defeated them and captured Durayd as prisoner. The conflict between Amr and Amir ibn Tufayl is also described in several pre-Islamic Arabian poems. Amir ibn Tufayl married Rayhanah, sister of Amr, but their relationship fell apart when there was a quarrel between Amir and Amr, resulting in Amir defeating and capturing Amr. When Amr escaped, he rode to Amir ibn Sa'sa'ah settlement and challenged him to a duel. Amr disarmed Amir and dismounted him by grabbing his lance. This ended the battle, and Amir was brought to his home humiliated and with his hands tied. Another notable conflict of Amr during his
Jahiliyya In Islamic salvation history, the ''Jāhiliyyah'' (Age of Ignorance) is an era of pre-Islamic Arabia as a whole or only of the Hejaz leading up to the lifetime of Muhammad. The Arabic expression (meaning literally “the age or condition of ig ...
era was against Abbas ibn Mirdas, a famous Arabian heroic figure from
Banu Sulaym The Banu Sulaym () is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Islamic prophet Muha ...
. Like Amr, Abbas also lived long enough to meet Muhammad and convert to Islam. During the era of
Rashidun The Rashidun () are the first four caliphs () who led the Muslim community following the death of Muhammad: Abu Bakr (), Umar (), Uthman (), and Ali (). The reign of these caliphs, called the Rashidun Caliphate (632–661), is considered i ...
, Amr told caliph Umar that Abbas ibn Mirdas as-Sulami was a member of a group of six powerful Arab horsemen, and that Abbas was the best of the six. The story of their conflict was recorded in the book of Shia writer and genealogist
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani Ali ibn al-Husayn al-Iṣfahānī (), also known as Abul-Faraj, (full form: Abū al-Faraj ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥaytham al-Umawī al-Iṣfahānī) (897–967Common Era, CE / 284–356Islamic calendar, AH) w ...
in his book,
Kitab al-Aghani ''Kitāb al-Aghānī'' (), is an encyclopedic collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions, attributed to the 10th-century Arabic writer Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani, Abū al-Farāj al-Isfahānī (also known as al-Is ...
. Amr and Abbas both wrote taunting poetry describing the conflict between them. Both mention assaults from both sides, the casualties sustained in their battles, the raids, and the capturing of sheep flocks. Abbas' poem states that the conflict went for ninety-nine days. An account of this conflict by Abul Abbas Tha'alab describes how Amr captured Abbas by grabbing hold of his hair, before Amr later let Abbas go and pardoned him. Another pre-Islamic narrative recounts a conversation between Abbas and Amr ibn Tufail, where Amr is discussed. Amr described to caliph Umar that the three bravest opponents he faced were: # A young warrior from a clan of Sha'bah named Harith ibn Sa'ad who had beaten Amr in duels three times in a row. Amr stated that Harith was so nimble in combat that he could jump off his horse to avoid Amr's strikes, and immediately appear from behind. Amr said to Umar that he felt humiliated by this defeats as Harith spared him each time, prompting Amr to befriend Harith as he respected the strength of the young warrior. # , a famous warrior from Kinana and enemy of Durayd ibn al-Summa in the Fijar Wars. According to
The Meadows of Gold ''Meadows of Gold and Mines of Gems'' (, ') is a 10th century history book by an Abbasid scholar al-Masudi. Written in Arabic and encompassing the period from the beginning of the world (starting with Adam and Eve) through to the late Abbasid era ...
by
Al-Masudi al-Masʿūdī (full name , ), –956, was a historian, geographer and traveler. He is sometimes referred to as the "Herodotus of the Arabs". A polymath and prolific author of over twenty works on theology, history (Islamic and universal), geo ...
, this conflict happened during a Zubaid clan raid against
Kinana Kinana () is an Arab tribe based around Mecca in the Tihama coastal area and the Hejaz mountains. The Quraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of modern-day tribes throughout the Arab w ...
, where Amr and his clansmen managed to seize loot and Rabia's wife. Rabia then pursued the raiding force and confronted Amr. When Amr told this story to Umar, he said that he fought inconclusive duels against Rabia. As a result, Amr gave Rabia back his wife and the loot. # Amr's old rival who clashed with him numerous times, Amir ibn Tufail. Aside from his famous poetry which was quoted by various historians, the Zubaidi were known as one of the Arab tribes which engaged in pre-Islamic tribal warfare. There are various accounts of Amr's lesser known adventures and battles, which were recorded in the form of oral traditions and poetry. As Amr had farms and a house in Tatlit, near
Abha Abha (, ') is the capital of Asir, Asir Province in Saudi Arabia. It is situated above sea level in the fertile Asir Mountains of south-western Saudi Arabia, near Asir National Park. Abha's mild climate makes it a popular tourist destination fo ...
, in the modern Asir Region, adjacent to the settlement of the Khawlan clan, the majority of his conflicts and battles occurred in the far north of Yemen.


List of Amr's other battles

* The first record of Amr participating in battle is during the battle between the Zubaid tribe and the Khath'am tribe, where at first the Khat'am prevailed, until Amr turned the tide of the battle, securing victory for the Zubaid. Amr gained his first renown from this battle. * A battle against another Yemeni tribe, the
Khawlan Khawlan (, ) is an ancient Tribes of Yemen#Himyar, Himyarite Arab tribe that archeologists view as one of the old tribes of Yemen that were contemporary to the kingdoms of Sabaeans, Saba and Minaeans, Ma'in. There are two tribes in Yemen with the ...
. Al-Hindani described based on the writings of Samir Al-Fursan Al-Yami; that Amr and his Zubaid clansmen launched a devastating raid against the Khawlan, killing scores, entered their fields and acquired massive spoils of sheep and gold. Amr then presented the spoils to his uncles, Sa'ad and Shihab. * The Diwan of
Imru' al-Qais Imruʾ al-Qais Junduh bin Hujr al-Kindi () was a pre-Islamic Arabian poet from Najd in the late fifth and early sixth centuries, and the last King of Kinda. He is sometimes considered the father of Arabic poetry. His qaṣīda, or long poe ...
stated that Amr and his brother Abdullah fought against which resulted in victory for Amr, as they repelled the Mazin tribe. * The invasion against the sub branch of
Banu Hamdan Banu Hamdan (; Ancient South Arabian script, Musnad: 𐩠𐩣𐩵𐩬) is an ancient, large, and prominent Arab tribe in northern Yemen. Origins and location The Hamdan stemmed from the eponymous progenitor Awsala (nickname Hamdan) whose descent ...
, the clan of Banu Asid. This occurred after the Asid clan raided the Zubaidis and plundered many possessions, including equipment and horses belonging to Amr. Amr then was said to led his army in a war of vengeance, where he stated that he slaughtered thousands of Asheed clansmen. * The battle against Banu Ziyad al-Harith ibn Ka'ab, where Amr reported that the women of Banu Ziyad were cheering during the battle. This battle was recorded by
Yaqut al-Hamawi Yāqūt Shihāb al-Dīn ibn-ʿAbdullāh al-Rūmī al-Ḥamawī (1179–1229) () was a Muslim scholar of Byzantine ancestry active during the late Abbasid period (12th–13th centuries). He is known for his , an influential work on geography con ...
in his book ''Mu'ujam al-Buldan.'' Modern Yemeni historian Sulaiman Issa determined that Amr also fought with the clan of Bani Al-Harith bin Ka'b, who hailed from Madhij tribe confederat. They were led by Al-Sajf bin Qais bin Al-Ghaz, who had previously invaded Amr's homeland in Wadi Zubaid. * The battle of "The Day of Bawar", a battle against Banu Sa'adi, a victory that gave Amr much pride. * The battle of "The Day of Sa'adi", another battle against Banu Sa'adi which was also won by Amr and his Zubaid clan. Amr memorialised the battle through a poem. * A raid by Amr against Banu Hamdan, which became the subject of the famous Hamdani poem, ''Hashash''. Al-Asghar ibn Hashash al-Bakili ash-Shakri escaped the attack, and took refugee in a nearby settlement, where Hashash al-Ashgar composed a poem which described the attack of Amr against his tribe. * Amr clashed with the Sa'adian clan led by Rabiah bin Sa'ad, entered the fortress of An'am that belonged to the Sa'ad clan, and destroyed it. * The Zubaidi clan warrior and poet Qadi Abu al-Husain wrote an account of a raid under Amr's command against the Ghatafan tribe. During this raid, Qadi heard of a stranger who recited a poem about how none in his tribe could stand against Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib. This prompted Qadi to wonder whether he should pay warriors from other clans to stand against Amr and the Zubaids, so that they have someone to fight against. * During the Rashidun caliphate era, Amr recounted to caliph Umar that Amr once faced a certain warrior who challenged him to a duel in a midst of battle, not knowing who he was. When he heard the name Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakarib, the enemy fell dead immediately from fear. Amr concluded by remarking that this man was among the most cowardly opponents he ever faced during his life. * Amr's raid against Banu Nabhan, which was recounted in the divans or Saga of Antarah ibn Shaddad. * A story which Amr told Umar about his revenge attack against a particular clan from the Kinda confederation, as the clan once raided the Madhhij clan of Amr and kidnapped some women of Madhhij. Amr immediately took his horse and rode alone towards the Kinda settlement, where Amr said he prevailed fighting against the whole of their clan warriors by himself. * A raid against the
Hawazin The Hawazin ( / ALA-LC: ''Hawāzin'') were an Arab tribe originally based in the western Najd and around Ta'if in the Hejaz. They formed part of the larger Qays tribal group. The Hawazin consisted of the subtribes of Banu Sa'd, and Banu Jusham, a ...
tribe, which was recounted in the ''Diwan of Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib'' compilation. * The adventure of Amr in capturing several notable warriors such as Sinan bin Abi Haritha, Al-Harith bin Zalim, Hashim ibn Harmala, and Husayn ibn Harmala, which was followed by Amr's defeat and capture of an Arabian soldier named Khiyar ibn Murrah al-Marri. The Diwan narration recorded that this happened in Souk Okaz market after Amr performed the
Hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
. * A vague mention of the conflict between Amr's clan of Madhhij against a certain clan from the
Qays Qays ʿAylān (), often referred to simply as Qays (''Kais'' or ''Ḳays'') were an Arab tribal confederation that branched from the Mudar group. The tribe may not have functioned as a unit in pre-Islamic Arabia (before 630). However, by the ea ...
ite tribe. * Another account from the ''Sirat Antar'' (saga of Antarah), which was recorded by Ali ibn Zabid during the time of
Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...
. It described that as Amr was in a marriage procession with a woman named Lamis, the procession was attacked by a figure named Urwah, who was in love with Lamis. However, Urwah was defeated and captured by Amr during the battle. * A long narration of Amr's conflict with Urwah was continued with further sequences of another Amr's fight against a black skinned warrior named Sulaik ibn Silkah. Then, as Lamis worried about Amr fighting such a ferocious warrior, Lamis ran to Urwah and pleaded him to help Amr, which caused Sulaik to flee. Later, Antarah interceded in the incident, and decide to give Lamis to Urwah, who turned down Antarah's offer, as he thought that Lamis now preferred being in love with Amr. According to Peter Heath, Amr was under the mercy of Urwah ibn al-Ward, who has been urged by Antarah to kill Amr so as to take Lamis as his wife. * There are some accounts of Amr admitting that he had lost in several skirmishes against a young hero named Rabia ibn Zayd, who rescued his sister from Amr. * The conflict which involved Zubaid, Amr's clan, where they allied with the tribe of Jurm clan against a coalition of Banu al-Harith and Banu Nahdi tribal clans, with Amr himself commanding the Zubaid and Jurm coalition armies. However, the alliance between Zubaid and Jurm broke in the middle of the war, which caused the Zubaid to fight Jurm instead. Then as the two former allies fought each other, Amr led the victorious battle against the Jurm. Amr reportedly had captured several enemies on his personal effort.


Sassanid Yemen

There is mention of Amr's involvement in long dramatical events of the Aksumite–Persian wars. These occurred as the Yemeni Arab tribes coalitions resented the
Axum Axum, also spelled Aksum (), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire. Axum is located in the Central Zone of the Tigray Re ...
ite rule, which prompted the Yemeni to form a coalition through their leader, Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan, with the
Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...
. According to Tabari, the undermanned Yemeni-Sasanian alliance won a "miraculous" victory, and expelled the Aksumites from the Arabian peninsula. After the death of Sayf during the second invasion of Aksumite, Amr was mentioned as one of the tribal chiefs who agreed to support the resistance against the Aksumite, and later agreed to fight under command of Badhan against the Aksumites, which successfully repulsed the Aksumites permanently. Yemen then
Sasanian Yemen Yemen (Middle Persian: ) was a province of the Sasanian Empire in Late Antiquity in southwestern Arabia. History Yemen was conquered in 570 by a small expeditionary '' aswaran'' force led by the Sasanian veteran Vahrez−the Himyarite prince ...
, a Sasanian protectorate region. Following this, as the Yemeni Arabs in the Madhhij dwelling region grew discontent with the rule of Sassanids, because they are not willing to submit under a faction which they thought of as another foreign invader, they revolted. The revolts were spearheaded by the now united Madhhij Arabian tribes, where the first clash against the Sassanids occurred in the Madhab Valley in Al-Jawf, in
Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...
2 AH / 622 CE, where Amr participated in this battle. The Madhhij suffered heavy losses, as many of their clan chieftains were felled, with the survivors of the battle including Amr and his nephew, Qays ibn Maksuh.


Conversion to Islam & rebellion

The
Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...
tribe, from which Muhammad hailed, and the
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
n
Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...
ite, hired Amr and Tulayha, another famed pre-Islamic knight hailed from Asad tribe, in some of their battles against opposing tribes, During Muhammad's life, Amr was said to be entangled in an affair which involved his long time rival Amir ibn Tufail, who had once captured Amr and married Amr's sister Raihanah. Amir ibn Tufail was captured by Untairah, a female warrior sister of prominent figure named Dhu al-Kalab. However, due to intercession from Amr, Untairah agreed to release Amir, who decided then to attack Muhammad, a Meccan Qurayshite who was preaching Islam. It is said before he began his attack, Amir ibn Tufail died from a neck tumour, placed there due to the prayers of Muhammad against him. At the time when Muhammad began to preach about Islam faith, Amr heard about it and was compelled to meet Muhammad. Amr urged Qays ibn Maksuh to go with him to check whether Muhammad's claims to be a prophet were true, which Qays rejected. Then in turn, Amr went by himself to meet Muhammad, which impressed him and prompted him to convert to Islam as he meet Muhammad. Amr's sword, which was named al-Samsarah,(translated as "killing on the spot",) which was a sword of ''as-Sayf al-Qala'i'' type, was awarded to Khalid ibn Sa'id as Khalid was appointed as Muhammad's administrator in Yemen. This happened as Khalid ibn Sa'id was on his way to Yemen, when suddenly the tribesmen of Amr from Zubadi ambushed him. The ambushers were defeated and captured, then Amr gave his al-Samsara sword to Khalid as a guarantee to free them and allow them to accept Islam instead. Amr's sword was presumably originating from the Arabian-Indian sea trade, which according to Ali ibn al-Athir, had become the standard of Arab Muslim army weapons during the time of Muhammad. Other several famous swords of the same type were named Dhu al-Nun and al-Qalzam. After Amr had met with Muhammad, he participated in the second Madhhij revolution against the Sassanid occupants, where several Madhhij who had converted to Islam including Amr, Qais ibn Maksuh, Qais ibn Al-Hussein, Yazid bin Abdul Madan, Yazid ibn Al-Mahjal, Yazid ibn Al-Afkal, and Yazid ibn Dhi Jarrah Al-Hamiri, were involved in this second attempt to retake their control of their lands from the Sassanid administrators. This time, Amr and the other Madhhij leaders managed to defeat the Sassanid force of Al-Abna' and expelled the Sassanid elements from the regions where clans of Madhhij dwelt. For the rest of Muhammad's life, Amr lived under , a governor from tribe of Murad who were appointed by Muhammad to govern the Zakah and Sharia law of Yemen region.�نكليزي> Later, during the great
Ridda Wars The Ridda Wars were a series of military campaigns launched by the first caliph Abu Bakr against rebellious Arabian tribes, some of which were led by rival prophet claimants. They began shortly after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in ...
, Qays curtailed the forces of a Yemeni rebel leader who claimed himself as prophet, named Al-Aswad al-Ansi. However, both Amr and Qays later revolted against the caliphate of Abu Bakar as both did not agree with the new administrator appointed by the caliph, thus they seceded from leadership of Farwah, who acted as their regions governor at the time. Amr and Qays ibn Maksuh then conspired to kill three caliphate deputies in Yemen.Free download
/ref> Both Amr and Qays were rallied for the second insurrection in Yemen. However, both were defeated by the force of Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl. Amr and Qays were said to be captured by Fayruz al-Daylami. According to the record of Usd al-ghabah fi marifat al-Saḥabah, Amr came to Medina as a prisoner and was guarded by a caliphate soldier named Al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya. Amr was then brought to caliph Abu Bakar, who invited him to Islam again, which Amr agreed upon. Thus, Amr was pardoned by the caliph.


Muslim conquest of Levant

According to Yemeni historian professor Sulaiman Issa, Amr brought along Zubaidi tribesmen from
Tihamah Tihamah or Tihama ( ') is the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb. Etymology Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for 'sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in masculine form) was the ancient M ...
to participate in the
Muslim conquest of the Levant The Muslim conquest of the Levant (; ), or Arab conquest of Syria, was a 634–638 CE invasion of Byzantine Syria by the Rashidun Caliphate. A part of the wider Arab–Byzantine wars, the Levant was brought under Arab Muslim rule and develope ...
. In 634 CE, According to Hisham ibn al-Kalbi, after Khalid ibn Sa'id fell in the battle of Marj al-Saffar, the sword of al-Samsara previously belonging to Amr was found next to his body. Mu'awiyah therefore took the sword.


Siege of Damascus

Later, Amr participated in the Siege of Damascus, where his arrival alongside
Abu Sufyan ibn Harb Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya (; ), commonly known by his ' Abu Sufiyan (), was a prominent opponent-turned companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the father of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I () and namesake of the S ...
caused rejoicing amongst the Rashidun soldiers. At one point, Thomas, the garrison commander of Damascus, decided to lead the breakthrough against the siege by assembling forces in the eastern gate more numerous than the other gates, so that Khalid would be unable to move to Shurahbil's assistance and take command in that decisive sector. Thomas' attack at several gates also gave more flexibility to the operation: if success was achieved in any sector other than the gate of Thomas, such success could be exploited by sending troops to that sector to achieve the breakthrough. As the East Gate, the situation also became serious, for a larger Byzantine force had been assigned to this sector, and Rafay ibn Umayr was unable to withstand their attacks. Only the timely arrival of Khalid with his 400 veteran cavalry and his subsequent attack on the Roman flank, marked the turning point in the sally at the Eastern Gate. Amr and Khalid then positioned themselves on the front of the eastern gate of Damascus.


Campaign in Emesa province

Later, Amr was involved in the Siege of Emesa in 636 CE along with Kindite tribe soldiers, where he marched to rendezvous with Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, who had recently pacified Jerusalem. At first, a Byzantine commander from
Baalbek Baalbek (; ; ) is a city located east of the Litani River in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, about northeast of Beirut. It is the capital of Baalbek-Hermel Governorate. In 1998, the city had a population of 82,608. Most of the population consists of S ...
named Harbees was sent to Homs in response to the Muslims' siege of the city. Then, as Harbees led a sally in an attempt to break the encirclement, they immediately collided with patrolling troops of Rashidun led by Amr, Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar, Abdul Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, Rabia ibn Amr, and Malik Al-Ashtar. The forces of Harbees were swiftly demolished by the Rashidun troops of Amr, which caused the city of Emesa to be captured quickly as there were no more adequate defenders left. Amr and Dhiraar then continued by leading more than 5,000 cavalry troops joining Maysarah ibn Masruq to besiege Homs. Later, as the campaign in the Homs governate continued, Amr and about twenty mounted warriors consisted of Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar, Qais ibn Hubairah, Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr, Malik al-Ashtar, Auf ibn Salam, Sabr ibn kalkal, Mazin ibn Amr, Asid ibn Salamah, Rabia ibn Amr, Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl, and others entered the city of
Al-Rastan Al-Rastan () is the third largest city in the Homs Governorate, located north of its administrative capital Homs and from Hama. Nearby localities include Talbiseh and al-Ghantu to the south, al-Zaafaraniyah and al-Mashrafah to the southeast, Mur ...
. During the siege of al-Rastan, it is recorded that the supreme commander of Rashidun, Abu Ubaydah, employed
military deception Military deception (MILDEC) is an attempt by a military unit to gain an advantage during warfare by misleading adversary decision makers into taking action or inaction that creates favorable conditions for the deceiving force. This is usually ...
that allowed Amr and about 20 warriors to enter the city, and to cause chaos once they were inside of the wall while also opening the gate from inside and allowing the Muslim armies to overwhelm the defenders, thus allowing the city to be captured despite its very strong fortification defence.


Battle of Yarmuk

Later, Amr ibn Ma'adi-Yakrib was recorded as participating in the
Battle of the Yarmuk The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk; ) was a major battle between the Byzantine army, army of the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Muslim Rashidun army, forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements ...
, where Amr led soldiers from the Zubaid clan on the right flank of the Rashidun army. Amr fought bravely in Yarmuk as he once fought a groups of enemy soldiers whom he slayed one by one, causing the remaining soldiers to retreat until they stopped in one of the
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
encampments in the rear of the battle. However, Amr lost one of his eyes during this battle. It is said that he lost one of his eyes due to smallpox.


Muslim conquest of Persia

When the battle of Yarmuk was over, Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas asked the Khalifah
Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...
ibn al-Khattab to send him reinforcements for the battle of Qadisiyah.
Ibn Asakir Ibn Asakir (; 1105–c. 1176) was a Syrian Sunni Islamic scholar, who was one of the most prominent and renowned experts on Hadith and Islamic history in the medieval era. and a disciple of the Sufi mystic Abu al-Najib Suhrawardi. Ibn Asakir was ...
recorded that according to Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, commander of Rashidun army in Levant, Amr was among nineteen veterans that participated in Yarmuk that were sent into Qadisiyyah. Umar took precautions after disaster befell the Rashidun army in the Battle of the Bridge, and he immediately instructed several commander to send their detachments to go to Qadisiyyah, where the Madhhij contingent sending 1,200 of their fighters led three leaders, which are Amr, Abu Suhra bin Dhu'ayb, and Yazid ibn al-Harith as-Sada'i. Amr was sent along with Tulayha and al-Qa'qa as commander to Qadisiyyah. Umar instructed Sa'd to consult Amr and Tulayha regarding military matters, as Umar highly regarded the wisdom of both of them, while in addition, Umar also addressed to Sa'd in his letter:


Battle of al-Qadisiyah

After arriving in Qadisiyyah, Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas, the supreme commander of Rashidun army in
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, and the Rashidun army in Iraq were rejoiced with the arrival of both Amr and Tulayha, as they were acknowledged by the Qurayshite as heroes who were often hired by the Quraysh tribe to fight their wars in the past, during the era of
Pre-Islamic Arabia Pre-Islamic Arabia is the Arabian Peninsula and its northern extension in the Syrian Desert before the rise of Islam. This is consistent with how contemporaries used the term ''Arabia'' or where they said Arabs lived, which was not limited to the ...
. Amr was then sent by Sa'ad as an envoy to
Rostam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a we ...
to give the Sassanids a message, offering Rostam a choice between converting to Islam, surrender and paying Jizya tribute, or war. Abu Ubaidah testified in one narration that Amr had reached the age of one hundred and six years old while he attended al-Qadisiyah.


= Pre-battle scouting

= Later
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas ibn Wuhayb al-Zuhri () was an Arabs, Arab Muslims, Muslim commander. He was the founder of Kufa and served as its governor under Umar, Umar ibn al-Khattab. He played a leading role in the Muslim conquest of Persia and was a cl ...
sent Amr, Tulayha, and group of Rashidun scouts through the enemy territory to gather information. After two days of journeying, the scouts spotted the vanguard of Rostam's army which they estimated to be numbered around 70,000. Tulayha and Ibn Ma'adi then sent the scouts to report their findings to Sa'ad, while Tulayha and Ibn Ma'adi continued to gather intel by themselves. Then, Tulayha and Ibn Ma'adi managed to trace the second and the third wave which they believed to be the centre and rear of the army, numbered 100,000 and 70,000 respectively. Amr urged to Tulayha to return as they had achieved their mission to spot the enemy army, but Tulayha said to wait for one more day, as Tulayha carried out a one-man raid during the night. Tulayha infiltrated inside the rear encampment where Rostam's tent was located. Tabari particularly detailed in one chain of narrations the circumstances in which Tulayha infiltrated the Sassanid camps under the cover of darkness, and cut the ropes of the Sassanid rear army tents while bringing torches to ignite the fires within the camp. Tulayha singlehandedly wrought havoc in their camps, killing two Sassanid soldiers, As the confused Sassanid army plunged into chaos, Tulayha stole two horses and then brought back one captive to Sa'ad ibn abi Waqqas. The horses, according to Tulayha himself, belonged to Rostam. As Tulayha return to Amr's location, where he had been waiting for Tulayha outside the camp, they both retreated with the stolen horses to report to Sa'ad about the number of enemy forces, which was around 240,000, completing the previous scouts report.


= Four days of battles

= Later, as the battle of Qadisiyyah started, the Rashidun cavalry collided with the Sassanid cavalry. Then, as the intense battles were ongoing between Rashidun horsemen and Sassanid horsemen, suddenly one of the Sassanid champions challenged Amr to a duel or Mard o mard. Amr agreed and fought the Sassanid, only for Amr to seize his neck, slamming him to the ground and killing him. Amr remarked an insult that "the Persians were tupid, like agoat, once they drop their bows". On another occasion, as Amr roamed between the Rashidun and Sassanid lines on his horse, a Sassanid archer took position in the frontline and shot at Amr, which barely missed, hitting the edge of a bow slung on Amr's shoulder. Amr responded by rushing towards the Sassanid archer, dragging him down from his horse, seizing and breaking his neck, then slit his throat with his sword, and dragged the lifeless body of the Sassanid archer to the Muslim ranks and threw it in front of them, as a gesture to encourage the Muslims to fight harder like he did. At the end of the first day, the elephants of Sassanid army left the battlefield due to Asim ibn Amr al-Tamimi's ploy, scaring away the alpha male of the elephant herd, which according to Tabari was identifiable by more brighter skin and being bigger than other elephants. The left flank of the Muslims also managed to stall the onslaught of Persian heavy cavalries. Meanwhile, at the end of the second day, Bahman Jaduya, Sassanid right-flank commander, was killed by al-Qa'qa. The third day of the battle, which was called the day of Imash, saw the Sassanid elephant corps rampaging towards the Rashidun ranks. Amr played an important role as he was one of the Muslim warriors who fought off the elephants' onslaught. Amr was the one who instructed the Rashidun soldiers to sever the trunks of the elephants, which was done so by the soldiers around him, stopped the elephants' advance. Historical narratives from poets recited during this battle revealed that Amr was the first to realize the elephants of Sassanid armies had paralyzed the horses of Rashidun, as the mounts were not used to being close with such animals. Then Amr charged along with Khalid ibn Urfuta, Jarir ibn Abdullah Al-Bajali, Al-Qaqa', Tulayha, Amr and Dhiraar ibn al-Khattab to turn and engage against the
elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...
corps, aiming their weapons to pierce the elephants' eyes, while also aiming to kill the elephant riders. According to an eyewitness of the third day battle, Amr fought fiercely until he plunged alone into deeper enemy ranks and was surrounded by the Sassanid soldiers, while his horse was incapacitated by enemy arrows. At-Tartusi, author of Sirah al-Mulk, described how as forty to seventy elephants advanced towards the Muslims rank, Amr gathered himself and charged alone until he crossed the bridge which separated the Rashidun forces, where Amr fought alone surrounded by the enemy, as the Zubaid clan soldiers failed to follow and reach Amr. Regardless, when the Muslim soldiers managed to reach the encirclement of Amr, they found Amr was still alive and fighting alone inside the enemy ranks. The Muslim soldiers were amazed as they saw Amr grabbing and holding the
hind legs A hindlimb or back limb is one of the paired articulated appendages ( limbs) attached on the caudal ( posterior) end of a terrestrial tetrapod vertebrate's torso.http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/hind%20limb, Merriam Webster Dictionary-H ...
of an enemy horse with his hands, keeping it in place with his great strength, while the Sassanid rider helplessly struggled while swinging his sword against Amr without success. Tthus the rider gave up his horse to Amr, fleeing on foot as the Rashidun soldiers reached Amr. When asked where his own horse was, Amr simply replied that his horse had died to enemy arrows. The third day ended with the elephant corps of the Sassanid forces permanently neutralized due to combined efforts of Amr, Tulayha, Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar, al-Qa'qa, Khalid ibn Urfuta, and Jarir ibn Abdullah, while the commander of the elephant corps, Jalinus, was also slain. Amr suffered many injuries, including a stab wound from enemy spear during this phase, although he was still standing with a sword in his hand. During the fourth day of the battle of Qadisiyyah, Al-Qa`qa' devised a plan to end the fierce fighting against the Muslims and the Persians; so he suggested his plan to his superior, al Muthanna ibn Haritha, about leading a special unit to exploit the intensity of the deadlock battle. He planned to charge and slip onto a small gap between Sassanid lines and assassinate Rostam. Al-Qa'qa personally chose a group of tribal chiefs who were known for strength and valorous, such as Amr ibn Ma'adi Yakrib, Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, and Ibn Dhul-Bardain, for this mission. As the battle started, al-Qa'qa then executed the plan as he immediately galloped forward with his special units that included Amr on a daring charge to penetrate the surprised Sasanian lines. As the Sassanid soldiers did not expect this maneuver, al-Qa'qa and his units managed to reach the enemy commander,
Rostam Farrokhzad Rostam Farrokhzād () was a dynast from the Ispahbudhan family, who served as the '' spahbed'' ("military marshal") of the northwestern quarter (''kust'') of Adurbadagan under the Sasanian monarchs Boran () and Yazdegerd III (). Rostam is rem ...
. Amr managed to kill one of Rostam's escorts and seized his golden bracelets and brocaded coat, while later according to Tabari, Rostam was killed by Amr's comrade named Ullafah. At this stage,
Ya'qubi ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer. Life Ya'qubi was born in Baghdad to a fam ...
had recorded, that Amr, along with Dhiraar ibn al-Azwar, Tulayha, and Kurt ibn Jammah al-Abdi discovered the corpse of Rostam, the highest commander of Sassanid army. The death of Rostam shocked the entire Sassanid army, which prompted Sa'ad to instruct general assault to all the Muslim soldiers, and ended the four day-long battles which resulted the annihilation of Sassanid main forces mustered in Qadisiyyah. During this battle, the Rashidun army had lost one of their most celebrated hero named Abu Mihjan al-Thaqafi, whose death was witnessed by Amr. According to Mohammed Hussein Heikal, Amr was rewarded a massive 2,000 Dirhams worth of spoils of war by Sa'ad for his astounding personal efforts in the battle of Qadisiyyah, although he did not earn bigger rewards, which were reserved for those who had memorized Qur'an, since Amr was not included as one of the Hafiz. According to the book of Abu al-Faraj as-Shi'i al-Isfahani, it is during this battle that Amr revealed the name of his sword, Dhu al-Nun, during his taunting poem towards the Sassanid army.


Battle of Jalula

Later, Amr participated in the battle of Jalula, where he was reported to have played an important role during this battle along with al-Qa'qa, Tulayha, Hijr ibn 'Adi, and Qays ibn Maksuh. According to Baladhuri, Amr was appointed as commander of Rashidun cavalry during this battle. At night, Al-Qa'qa brought a number of elite cavalry to reach the door of the ditch. Among these horsemen were veterans such as Amr, Tulayha, Qays ibn Maksuh and Hijr ibn Adi, along with several horsemen from the Zubaydi clan. According to a first-hand witness named Muhaffiz, al Qa'qa's units including Amr and the others managed to slip inside the trench between Jalula fortress and the still engaging Sassanid army, capturing the trench while the main army of Sassanid under command of Khurrazad was busy fighting the main Rashidun forces. This act caused panic among the Sassanids as they began retreating, while the Rashidun forces noticed that al-Qa'qa and his units had penetrated and taken position on the trench behind the Sassanid army. It is said the entire battlefield was strewn with corpses of the Sassanid army, thus the name of the area and this historical battlefield became ''"Jalula"'' (dead bodies scattered around). According to a report, as the Sassanid left their treasures and families within the barricaded trenches, when Amr and the cavalry of Rashidun managed to capture the trench, they found massive spoils in the form of numerous captives for enslave and about nine thousand horses, which were secured in the aftermath of the battle. One of the notable captives from this battle was the mother of Amr ibn Shurahil, a
Tabi'un The tābiʿūn (, also accusative or genitive tābiʿīn , singular ''tābiʿ'' ), "followers" or "successors", are the generation of Muslims who followed the companions (''ṣaḥāba'') of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and thus received their ...
hadith scholar.


Further conquest of Persia & upper Mesopotamia

Later, after the establishment of
Kufa Kufa ( ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates, Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Along with Samarra, Karbala, Kadhimiya ...
garrison city, Amr was among notable members of the Madhhij clan who settled in Kufa. During the tenure of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas as governor in Kufa, there were scandalous accusations regarding Sa'd's unjust rule in Iraq, to which Umar responded by sending his agents to check and interview the populace in Kufa. Sa'd himself was called to Medina for interrogation. When Amr was interviewed, Amr testified in defence of Sa'd against the complaints and accusation of the Sa'd duty in Kufa, as according to Amr, the rule of Sa'd was "...just in law, caring the poors, humble in nature, and fair when giving rewards...". During Mujashi ibn Mas'ud al-Sulami governance of Basra, Mujashi bestowed upon Amr an Asian sword of ''al-Qala'i'', a slave who could cook bread, ten thousand
Dirham The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Moroccan dirham, Morocco, the United Arab Emirates dirham, United Arab Emirates and Armenian dram, Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivisi ...
, and a
foal A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt (horse), colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. Whe ...
mare with preserved pedigree from an ''al-Ghabra'' horse (dust colored type of
Arabian horse The Arabian or Arab horse ( , DIN 31635, DMG ''al-ḥiṣān al-ʿarabī'') is a horse breed, breed of horse with historic roots on the Arabian Peninsula. With a distinctive head shape and high tail carriage, the Arabian is one of the most easi ...
). It is noted by Cordoban writer
Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Rabbih (; 860–940) was an Arab writer and poet widely known as the author of ''al-ʿIqd al-Farīd'' (''The Unique Necklace''). Biography He was born in Córdoba, Spain, Cordova, now in Spain, and descended from a ...
in his anthology, the
Al-ʿIqd al-Farīd ''al-ʿIqd al-Farīd'' (''The Unique Necklace'', ) is an anthology attempting to encompass 'all that a well-informed person had to know in order to pass in society as a cultured and refined individual' (or ''Adab (literature), adab''), composed b ...
, that Mujashi belonged to
Banu Sulaym The Banu Sulaym () is an Arab tribe that dominated part of the Hejaz in the pre-Islamic era. They maintained close ties with the Quraysh of Mecca and the inhabitants of Medina, and fought in a number of battles against the Islamic prophet Muha ...
, a tribe which was a mortal enemy of the Zubadi. The Sulaim had also engaged in many battles against Amr in the past. However, Mujashi did not bear ill will towards Amr, and instead recognized his bravery. Mujashi also provided Amr with shields, swords, and another warfare equipment. Later, Amr continued to participate in further expansion towards Sassanid territory in Khorasan, where he was sent by Abdallah ibn Amir to serve under Ahnaf ibn Qais to expand and subdue the cities of
Marw al-Rudh Marw-Rud (, also ''Marw-Rudh'') or Marw al-Rudh (from ; ), locally used to be known by the older variants Marwarudh () and Marrudh (),"مرورود" in Dehkhoda Dictionary was a medieval settlement in Greater Khurasan, Khurasan. It was also known ...
and Balkh. However, their advance was halted due to the onset of winter, which prompted Ahnaf to ask whether they should continue or not, to which Amr replied that it was up to Ahnaf. Ahnaf then decided they should return to Balkh and stay in that town instead. Later, during the conquest by Iyad ibn Ghanm to the northern side of the Euphrates river, Amr was briefly mentioned by Waqidi as seeing action in this campaign. Amr was then assigned by
Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arabs, Arab military commander. He initially led campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career ...
to lead about 200 Rashidun cavalry to march towards
Harran Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. ...
As Amr troops passed by
Edessa Edessa (; ) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, in what is now Urfa or Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It was founded during the Hellenistic period by Macedonian general and self proclaimed king Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Sel ...
, he forced the surrender of the city before they reached Harran, and the populace then surrendered peacefully. Amr also wrote about the continuation of the conquests of Persian territory, which were under command of Rabi ibn Ziyad al-Harithi, that encompassed from Sawad,
Fars province Fars Province or Pars Province, also known as Persis or Farsistan (فارسستان), is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Its capital is the city of Shiraz. Pars province has an area of 122,400 km2 and is located in Iran's southwest, i ...
, until they managed to reach and capture the mountainous area of
Makar A makar () is a term from Scottish literature for a poet or bard, often thought of as a royal court poet. Since the 19th century, the term ''The Makars'' has been specifically used to refer to a number of poets of fifteenth and sixteenth cen ...
.


Battle of Nahavand & Death

On the eve of the battle of Nahāvand, the caliphate heard that the Sassanid armed forces from Mah, Qom,
Hamadan Hamadan ( ; , ) is a mountainous city in western Iran. It is located in the Central District of Hamadan County in Hamadan province, serving as the capital of the province, county, and district. As of the 2016 Iranian census, it had a po ...
, Ray,
Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
,
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, and Nahavand had gathered in the area of Nahavand to counter the caliphate's invasion. Caliph Umar responded by assembling war councils to discuss the strategy to face the Sassanids in
Nahavand Nahavand () is a city in the Central District of Nahavand County, Hamadan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. It is south of the city of Hamadan, west of Malayer and northwest of Borujerd. Inhabited ...
. As the battle plans has been set, at first the caliph wanted to lead the army himself, however, Ali urged the caliph to instead delegate the battlefield commands to the field commanders. Umar agreed, and decided to send Amr,
Zubayr ibn al-Awwam Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi (; ) was an Arab Muslim commander in the service of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the caliphs Abu Bakr () and Umar () who played a leading role in the Ridda Wars, Ridda wars against rebel tribes in ...
, Tulayha, Abdullah ibn Amr, Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays and others under the command of Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin as reinforcements to Nahavand. As they arrived in Nahavand, Amr was sent as a scout to gather information about the enemy forces before the battle. Amr travelled for three days, exploring the fields around the area in Nahavand, to gather information regarding the enemy strength. The battle began with two days of intense skirmishing, as the Sassanid forces refused to leave their position within trenches despite their superior number, until the last day, as Al-Nu'man ibn Muqrin asked the opinion of his commander how to break the Sassanid resistance. The Sassanids had entrenched themselves behind spiked ditches, and so Amr stated they should try to force a daring breakthrough manoeuvre against their lines to break the Sassanid resistances. However, Tulayha proposed a different strategy; to bait them to leave their position to the more open field, which was agreed to by the other commanders. Then, as the last day of the battle started, Tulayha's strategy was carried out, baiting the bulk of Sassanid forces to chase them as the Rashidun forces pretended to withdraw, while peppering the Sassanids with showers of arrows by their cavalry archers. As the Sassanids chased the withdrawing army of Rashidun, the heavily outnumbered Rashidun army suddenly mounted counterattack from the favourable position, and fought hard against the onslaught of more than a hundred thousand of united Sassanid forces. They not only managed to stop the Sassanid forces on their track, but also inflicted heavy losses on them and caused the entire Sassanid army to collapse. Nu'aym ibn Muqarrin, the brother of al-Nu'man, depicted the battle as intense, as he saw Amr and
Zubayr ibn al-Awwam Al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi (; ) was an Arab Muslim commander in the service of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the caliphs Abu Bakr () and Umar () who played a leading role in the Ridda Wars, Ridda wars against rebel tribes in ...
both fighting furiously and full of vigor, while Nu'aym saw the heads of Sassanid soldiers flying around the two warriors "like trees that were uprooted from their roots,". Despite the overall victory, Amr was killed during this battle, along with his comrade Tulayha. Abu al-Farraj recorded that Amr was buried along with Nu'man, the Rashidun supreme commander who also fell during this battle. Other records state that Amr was killed in the year 21 AH in a place called Ruzah between Ray and Qom, and was buried there. Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani on the other hand reported from a witness named Khalid ibn Qatan that Khalid had met with Amr, who was alive during the caliphate of
Uthman Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, played a major role ...
. This has been considered dubious as the narrator chains were weak. Meanwhile, there are other similarly dubious accounts recorded by Abu Hanifa Dinawari which were sourced from al-Farra that Amr ibn Ma'di-Yakrib still lived during the reign of Mu'awiyah. According to Abu Hanifa, al-Farra account were ambiguously traced to untraceable source.


Personal characteristic

Amr was known for his impressive physical build. It was said that Amr was so tall and huge in stature, that his feet touched the ground when he rode a horse, Caliph Umar also praised Amr's impressive physical build, declaring that Amr was "one of God's finest creation" for the perfection of his musculature and posture. As a huge person, Amr also reportedly possessed a huge appetite, as he admitted that when eating a full dish of camel meat, he would consume the camel's meat up to its bones, and he also drank huge amounts of milk. The size of his appetite was once recorded during a visit to caliph Umar's residence, where he was treated with large amounts of dishes such as breads and raisins, which still did not appease him until there was no more to give, prompting the caliph to say that he has no more food in the house. Adi ibn Hatim once spoke to Muhammad and praised several figures as most accomplished humans in their era, and Adi praised Amr ibn Ma'dikarib as the best horse rider of the era. Basra philologist and grammarian Al-Mubarrad recorded that caliph Umar of Rashidun once asked his peoples about the best things among Arab peoples, which responded by his peoples that the most generous were Hatim al-Tai, the best poet were
Imru' al-Qais Imruʾ al-Qais Junduh bin Hujr al-Kindi () was a pre-Islamic Arabian poet from Najd in the late fifth and early sixth centuries, and the last King of Kinda. He is sometimes considered the father of Arabic poetry. His qaṣīda, or long poe ...
, and the best mounted hero were Amir ibn Ma'dikarib while his sword, as-Samsara, was the best sword known in Arabia.
Jabir ibn Abd Allah Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥarām al-Anṣārī (, died 697 CE/78 AH), Abu Muhammad and Abu Abd al-Rahman also wrote his nickname was a prominent companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and narrator of Hadith. Imami sources say ...
praised Amr and Tulayha as soldiers that participated in the battle of al-Qadisiyah who did not desire worldly gain and were exceptionally pious. As master of
equestrianism Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
, Amr possessed at least four different horses as his mounts, named al-Ya'suf, al-Adhwa'a, al-'Athaf, and al-Ba'yat. Regarding the horsemanship, Amr also boasted to the caliph about his expertise and knowledge regarding horse breeds, particularly the Arabian breed.


Legacy

Amr was a powerful warrior, proficient in swords, armor, shield, bows and arrows. While discussing the martial art of weapon usage with Caliph Umar, it is implied that Amr utilised the Tahtib martial art which involved the mastery use of sticks or spear. The swords belonging to Amr became a source of various legends and myths in later eras, as Abbasid caliphs were known to possess a famous sword of Amr's, after it has been purchased by the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiyah. These fuelled the martial legends surrounding Amr, and were represented by heroic literature and poetry about Amr. However, some of the epic deeds of Amr were sometimes incorrectly attributed to another figure named Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan. Various other vague accounts also narrated another mythical legends about a sword belonging to Amr, ''ash-Shamshamah''. ''Ash-Shamshamah'' was said to weigh six pounds and was adorned with gold inscriptions. The blade was made of iron found in Jebel Nuqm, a mountain that overlooked San'a. According to medieval Arabian poet Abu al-Hawl al-Hamiri, the sword's cross guard was green-colored between its edges. It was possessed by Abbasid caliph
al-Wathiq Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad al-Wathiq bi'Llah (; 18 April 81210 August 847), commonly known by his regnal name al-Wathiq bi'Llah (), was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 until his death in 847. Al-Wathiq is described in the so ...
. According to several medieval chronicles, the sword belonged to the ʿĀd tribe, which preserved it from generation to generation until Amr received it from
Himyarite Kingdom Himyar was a polity in the southern highlands of Yemen, as well as the name of the region which it claimed. Until 110 BCE, it was integrated into the Qataban, Qatabanian kingdom, afterwards being recognized as an independent kingdom. According ...
ruler Alqamah bin Dhi Qaifan. Another sword of Amr called the ''Dhu al-Nun'' sword was believed to be a gift from the
Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba, also known as Bilqis in Arabic and as Makeda in Geʽez, is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she brings a caravan of valuable gifts for Solomon, the fourth King of Israel and Judah. This a ...
, the legendary queen of Yemen, to the prophet
Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...
from the kingdom of Israel. Abu al-Faraj as-Shi'i al-Isfahani mentioned the literary evidence of Amr named ''Dhu al-Nun'' in the battle poetry which originated from the battle of Qadisiyyah. Another sword which possessed by Amr were a sword nicknamed ''as-Sheeyamah'' (الصيامة), which given to him by
Amr ibn al-As Amr ibn al-As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi (664) was an Arab commander and companion of Muhammad who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664. The son of a wealthy Qurayshite, Amr embraced Islam in and was ...
. Meanwhile, Amr's most famous sword, ''as-Samsarah'', was believed to originate from the extinct tribe of
ʿĀd ʿĀd (, ') was an ancient tribe in pre-Islamic Arabia. 'Ad is best known for being mentioned two dozen times in the Quran, often in conjunction with Thamud. Recently, it has been shown that 'Ad was a tribe that existed two millennia ago in the W ...
which lived during the time of prophet Hud. Amr described in his own poem how his sword previously belonged from a man named Dhu al-Qaifah ibn 'Alas ibn Ja'dan, who had acquired that sword as an artifact of the ʿĀd tribe.anjutan /> According to Amr, ''as-Samsarah'' was previously owned by 'Alqamah ibn Dhi Qayfan, one of the descendants of Qii Bayh ibn Qi Qayfan al-Akbar, who found the sword from the ʿĀd tribe. The sword came into possession of Abbasid caliphs such as
Harun al-Rashid Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rāshīd (), or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Hārūn al-Rāshīd (), was the fifth Abbasid caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate, reigning from September 786 unti ...
, and
Al-Mahdi Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Manṣūr (; 744 or 745 – 785), better known by his regnal name al-Mahdī (, "He who is guided by God"), was the third Abbasid Caliph who reigned from 775 to his death in 785. He succeeded his ...
. The Islamic era poetry and historical narrative commentaries also included an appraisal for Amr for his participation in Islamic conquest, particularly in Qadisiyyah and Nahavand as appraisal, in addition to his pre-Islamic saga. Ibn Kathir stated that the battle of Nahāvand, the battle where Amr was killed, marked the dissolution and the fall of the last of the grand marshals of the Sasanian Imperial army, and was pivotal for further Muslim expansion into modern day
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
, along with the caliphate's permanent consolidation of their presence in
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
.


Islam

In Islamic belief, Amr is remembered and included as one of the
Companions of the Prophet The Companions of the Prophet () were the Muslim disciples and followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who saw or met him during his lifetime. The companions played a major role in Muslim battles, society, hadith narration, and governance ...
. His status as a companion was attested by the record of Ibn Hajar. As a companion of Muhammad who served with distinction during the
Early Muslim conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests (), also known as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the founder of Islam. He established the first Islamic state in Medina, Arabian Peninsula, Arabia that ...
, Muslim scholars of later generations have worked on the memorials and biographical record about Amr ibn Ma'dikarib service during his later half of his life, and his martyrdom during the battle for Islam conquest. The records from Ali ibn al-Athir in his biographical works, Usd al-ghabah fi marifat al-Saḥabah, and Al-Isabah fi tamyiz al Sahabah by Ibn Hajar also featured a brief biography of Amr, while Ibn Hajar recorded that Amr survived until the caliphate of
Mu'awiya I Mu'awiya I (–April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and immediately after the four Rashid ...
. Later scholars such as
Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...
, adapting from at-Tartusi, also praised the bravery of Amr during those campaigns. As Amr used his oratory skill to motivate the Muslim soldiers during Qadisiyyah, both religious study and Middle East historical studies have recorded and examined the historiographical reconstruction of Amr theatrical and poetry during the battle of Qadisiyyah.
Ibn Kathir Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (; ), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic Exegesis, exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on (Quranic exegesis), (history) and (Islamic jurisprudence), he is considered a lea ...
quoted in his book ''al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah'' the many appraisals Amr received for his services during the battle of Qadisiyyah from both contemporaries and later Islamic historians, who recognized Amr's role during the battles against the Sassanid empire. Modern Saudi Arabian scholar and author Aid al-Qarni has appraised Amr as "setting an example of courage" for his conduct in the battle of Qadisiyyah. Ibn Kathir also recorded the compilation of the Hadith narrated through the authority of Amr in his different works, ''Jami' al-Masanid wa as-Sunan''.


Interpretations & jurisprudences

Aside from his military service to Islam, Amr also passed down a Hadith, which reported that he heard the recitation of Talbiyah during
hajj Hajj (; ; also spelled Hadj, Haj or Haji) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for capable Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetim ...
pilgrimage ritual, taught to him by Muhammad. The text reads: Based on critical commentaries and review from
Al-Suyuti Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (; 1445–1505), or al-Suyuti, was an Egyptians, Egyptian Sunni Muslims, Muslim polymath of Persians, Persian descent. Considered the mujtahid and mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century, he was a leading Hadith studies, muh ...
works, Amr was also known as one of several Sahabah who had possessed rare knowledge regarding the
Asbab al-Nuzul Occasions or circumstances of revelation (in Arabic - ''al-nuzūl'') names the historical context in which Quranic verses were revealed from the perspective of traditional Islam. Though of some use in reconstructing the Qur'an's historicity, ''a ...
or revelation of certain
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
verses. Ibn Hisham recorded the warning given by Amr to Qays ibn Makshuh, when Qays threatened Salman ibn Rabia al-Bahili, administrator of the caliphate stable and ''Hima'' (camels massive breeding livestock in Nejd). Amr reprimanded Qays from threatening Salman, advising him to beware of such a prideful attitude while reminding him the fate of the powerful
ʿĀd ʿĀd (, ') was an ancient tribe in pre-Islamic Arabia. 'Ad is best known for being mentioned two dozen times in the Quran, often in conjunction with Thamud. Recently, it has been shown that 'Ad was a tribe that existed two millennia ago in the W ...
peoples preceding them, which did not help them to avert disaster. Prominent Saudi scholar and permanent council of scholars member, Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymeen, also quoted Amr's poetry in his book, ''Tafsir al-Uthaymin'', when explaining the tafsir or interpretation of the verses Al-An'am chapter of Qur'an regarding slavery to Allah, in context of servitude of whole creatures towards their Creator, in a general sense. Later scholars, such as 12-13th century
Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...
te scholar Abu al-Barakat Zayn al Abidin ibn al-Munaji, also recorded the war ethics of Ghanima or spoils of war according to Islam jurisprudence, where he described how Amr killed one of the Sassanid commander's bodyguards in battle, and cut both hands off the bodyguard to acquire the golden bracelets on his wrists, Zayn al-Abidin used this case as the allowance of certain soldiers to acquire the spoils from the enemy he personally killed by his own hands, which was in line with one of the ruling stated in one Hadith from Muhammad regarding such a situation. However, Amr once made a mistake of Qur'an tafsir regarding liquor, as Al-Ma'idah revelation of verse 90-91 completely forbade consumption of alcohol. Amr first though the ruling about liquor was that it was not totally forbidden according to verse 93. This view, according to
Ibn Qudamah Ibn Qudama (January/February 11477 July 1223) was an ulama, Islamic scholar and aqidah, theologian of the Hanbali, Hanbali school of Sunni Islam. Born in the Palestine (region), Palestine region, Ibn Qudama authored many important treatises on fi ...
, was corrected by
Ibn Abbas ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās (; c. 619 – 687 CE), also known as Ibn ʿAbbās, was one of the cousins of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, prophet Muhammad. He is considered to be the greatest Tafsir#Conditions, mufassir of the Quran, Qur'an. ...
and caliph Umar. This incident was discussed by
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...
in his compilation and Hadith explanation book, The Meadows of the Righteous.


Poetries

Werner Daum noted that Amr was probably the most famous and legendary of the ancient Arab heroes, who roamed the land seeking honour in glorious battles and through poetry. The figure of Amr was celebrated among Arabian poetry experts, as accomplished poet as Jawad Ali said that Amr was genuinely gifted in oratory skill and poets.anjutan> As an expert of poetries, the poets recited by Amr were preserved and documented until modern era. Yahya al-Juburi, modern era Arabic literature expert, has worked on a commentary book regarding the poetries compilation within "Diwan Amr ibn Ma'dikarib". A surviving poem by Amr about Amr's opinion on the Ghassanid was quoted by Irfan Shahîd, in which Amr said "lords during Jahiliyya era and stars in Islam." Amr's fame in poetry has placed him among similar fame with other notable poets such as Harith ibn Zalim, Amr ibn Tufail, and Mukhalis ibn Muzahim. Many stories and epic poetries produced by Amr have survived and have become subjects of Arabian poet studies. Amr is regarded as an example of pre-Islamic heroic figure comparable with Antarah and Durayd, also remembered as great warriors and poetry experts. The Qasida poetries produced by Amr, which have survived to modern times, revolve around heroism and martial pride. Stylistically, Amr's poetry sometimes used a
simile A simile () is a type of figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes are often contrasted with metaphors, where similes necessarily compare two things using words such as "like", "as", while metaphors often create an implicit c ...
from natural phenomena, such as comparing the scene of lightning appearing over clouds to a group of women gathering together in mourning. Regarding his personal adventures narrated by Amr,
al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī (, full name Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī, ; 1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian historian and biographer during the Mamluk era, known for his interest in the Fat ...
recorded another story that Amr told Umar. Amr told of an adventure where he was raiding an Arab tribe, and met a famous hunter named 'Amr the dog', who was always hunting lions, and was always accompanied by dogs during his hunts or raids. Amr came upon him after Amr the dog had killed a lion and was wallowing in the lion's blood, while seemingly eating the lion's corpse. However, suddenly a snake bit Amr the dog's hand, causing him to die instantly, which prompted Amr to take his weapons. In another conversation, recorded by
Ibn Manzur Muhammad ibn Mukarram ibn Alī ibn Ahmad ibn Manzūr al-Ansārī al-Ifrīqī al-Misrī al-Khazrajī () also known as Ibn Manẓūr () (June–July 1233 – December 1311/January 1312) was an Arab lexicographer of the Arabic language and author of ...
, Amr praised an Arabian knight and his former enemy named Abbas ibn Mirdas as-Sulami, whom Amr claimed to have personally taught in the art of poetry. Some of Amr's contemporaries in the caliphate questioned the veracity of Amr's stories in his many poetries, prompting him to defend himself in front of caliph Umar. Amr stated that he had never lied in his life, even before converting to Islam. Umar reportedly crosschecked the stories of Amr, and Umar continued to listen to Amr regarding military matters. Caliph Umar also interviewed the populace of Yemen, who testified that Amr were indeed a champion acknowledged by the Yemeni peoples.
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
era scholar
Ibn Qutaybah Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī al-Marwazī better known simply as Ibn Qutaybah (; c. 828 – 13 November 889 CE/213 – 15 Rajab 276 AH) was an Islamic scholar of Persian people, Persian descent. He served as a q ...
also attested the reliability and truthfulness of Amr's claims and dismissed the critics. The poetries of Amr have been deemed as a source of Arabian heroism and martial culture. However, most of Amr ''Sirah'' or epic literatures were lost and some of his deeds mistakenly attributed to others.ntitledReviewed Work: Studies on Arabic Epics: Oriente Moderno by Giovanni Canova"> In Malay and
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
n folktales, Amr became one of leading figures of the fictional chronicle of Hikayat Amir Hamzah, since the
Hikayat ''Hikayat'' (Jawi script, Jawi: ; ) (or ''hikajat''), which may be translated as "Romances", represent a genre of literature popular in Malay language, Malay and Sikh scriptures, Sikh literature and can be written in both verse and prose. ''Hikaya ...
poetries that fictionalized the heroic figures of early Islam were used in its era to be used by inspire the locals to resist the Dutch invaders.


Descendants

Many Arab tribes descend from Amr, including Al-Obaid and Al-Dulaim. Most of Amr's descendants are found residing in
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
,
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
. Their numbers have been estimated to exceed 20 million. As the diaspora of Zubaid tribe spread across the ages, several sub branches of them claim to be direct patrilineal descendants of Amr, such as the Jubur tribe. Abbas al-Azzawi wrote in his book, ''"al-Ash'ar al-Iraq"'' (عشائر العراق), that the Jubur then technically formed the smaller sub branch of Zubaid clans through Amr. From several texts, the patrilineal line passed to Amr ibn Ma'di Karb al-Zubaydi from Zabid al-Asghar, who was from Bani Amr, and in Najd al-Jabour and al-Izza are the Subai' family, who are from grouped clans, who were descended from Jabr ibn Maktoum Al Zubaidi, recorded as descendant of Bahij ibn Dhubyan. Bajij was the 14th descendant of Jamish ibn Marhaj, a great-grandson of Thawr ibn Amr, son of Amr. From the Jubur tribe, the as-Shuwaikhat clan which populate the city of
Ad-Dawr Ad-Dawr () is a small agricultural town in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, near Tikrit. It includes a great number of people from four tribes, al-Shuwaykhat, al-Mawashet, al-Bu Haydar and al-Bu Mdallal. Al-Mawashet tribe is famous for supporting Saddam ...
in Iraq, also claim to be descended form Amr. Another notable sub-branch of Zubayd in modern times, the
Al Uqaydat Al-Uqaydat () is a large Arab tribe which straddles Syria's eastern border with Iraq. It is the largest tribe in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Deir ez-Zor province and according to Max von Oppenheim, it is the largest tribe in all of Mesopotamia. M ...
, who are according to
Max von Oppenheim Baron Max von Oppenheim (15 July 1860 – 17 November 1946) was a German people, German lawyer, diplomat, ancient historian, Panislamism, pan-Islamist and archaeologist. He was a member of the Oppenheim family, Oppenheim banking dynasty. Aban ...
the largest tribe in all of Mesopotamia, are reportedly claimed as descendants of Amr as well.


References


Notes


Inline citations


Bibliography

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External link biography

* * * * * Zubaidi clan genealogy * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Amr bin Maadi Yakrib 642 deaths 6th-century Arabic-language poets 7th-century Arab people 7th-century Arabic-language poets 7th-century Muslims Arab generals Arab Muslims Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Arabic-language poets Converts to Islam Medieval Arabic literature Military personnel killed in action People of the Muslim conquest of Persia People of the Muslim conquest of the Levant People from the Rashidun Caliphate Prisoners and detainees of the Rashidun Caliphate People of the Ridda Wars Sahabah hadith narrators Yemeni Muslims Yemeni poets 540s births