Abd ar-Rahman ibn al-'Awam

Ibn Khuwaylid ibn Asad «٢» ibn 'Abd al-'Uzza «٣» ibn Qusayy al-Qurashi al-Asadi, the brother of al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam.

He was the elder of the two, and his mother was Umm al-Khayr bint Malik ibn 'Umayala al-'Abdariyya.

Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar mentioned, on the authority of his uncle Mus'ab, that 'Abd al-Rahman attended Badr on the side of the polytheists; when they were routed, he and his brother 'Abd Allah were both mounted on a single camel and found their cousin Hakim ibn Hizam on foot, as 'Abd Allah was lame.

Al-Zubayr further stated that his name in the pre-Islamic period was 'Abd al-Ka'ba, and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) renamed him 'Abd al-Rahman; he was martyred at the Battle of Yarmuk, and his son 'Abd Allah was killed on the Day of the House. It was also said: that he embraced Islam on the day of the Conquest and was in the company of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

I say: It is the latter account that Ibn 'Abd al-Barr adopted, saying: and al-'Adawi stated in the Book of Genealogy that Hassan ibn Thabit composed satirical verses concerning al-'Awwam on account of this 'Abd al-Rahman, saying: it is not valid to maintain, as some have said, that those verses were on account of 'Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.

Abu Musa appended him as an addition to the work of Ibn Manda.

I read in the Diwan of Hassan, in the edition of Abu Sa'id al-Sukari on the authority of Muhammad ibn Habib, who said: the reason for Hassan's satirizing of the family of al-'Awwam was that 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-'Awwam used to offend the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him); then he subsequently embraced Islam and has no surviving descendants, and Hassan recited concerning this the following lines:

(١) In a: he said: they both said, from Sa'id.
(٢) Asad al-Ghaba no. (3369); al-Isti'ab no. (1454).
(٣) In a: Asad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz.

O Banu Asad, what ails the family of Khuwaylid - they pine with longing every day toward the Copts, and their eyes are like glass-beads and tokens ... that differ from Ka'b in the beardlessness of their chins. By the life of the father of al-'Awwam, indeed Khuwaylid ... on the morning his patron bound him in covenant. [al-Tawil metre] And Hassan composed other verses on this subject, and he likewise praised al-Zubayr ibn al-'Awwam in lines in which he says:

He stood firm upon the guidance of the Prophet and his religion ... a devoted Companion, the word matched word for word. [al-Tawil metre] And al-Baladhuri stated: 'Abd al-Rahman ibn al-'Awwam died during the caliphate of 'Umar.