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The Ansar delegations: Souwayd ibn as-Samit, called al-Kamil, cousin of Abd al-Muttalib, his meeting with Prophet Muhammad facing Louqman’s wisdom, his conversion and his death before Bu’ath, from Ibn Ishaq and al-Bayhaqi.
Updated on 07 September 2026 at 11:07 PM
Such is the chapter of the Ansar delegations, year after year, until they pledged to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) pledge after pledge; after which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to join them in Medina and settled among them, as its explanation will come, Allah willing. Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was thus in his mission: whenever the people gathered at the season, he came to them, calling the tribes to Allah and to Islam, offering them himself and what he brought of guidance and mercy. It never reached his ear that a man of name and honor among the Arabs arrived in Mecca without him attending to him and calling him to Allah the Most High, offering him what he had.
This is Souwayd ibn as-Samit ibn Khalid ibn Atiyya ibn Hawt ibn Habib ibn Amr ibn Awf ibn Malik ibn al-Aws; his mother was Layla bint Amr an-Najjariyya, sister of Salma bint Amr, mother of Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim: this Souwayd was thus the first cousin of Abd al-Muttalib, grandfather of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Ibn Ishaq said: his people called him, among them, “al-Kamil” (the Perfect), for his vigor, his poetry, his honor and his lineage, and he is the author of these verses:
“Listen: how many a man you call friend, and were you to see … his words said in your absence, you would hate his lies ;”
“His speech is honey while he is present, … and in your absence he pours bile upon the throat ;”
“His presence delights you, and beneath his skin hides … a deceitful backbiting that gnaws the backs of the absent ;”
“His two eyes reveal to you what he conceals … of rancor and hatred by the furtive glance ;”
“Deal well with me so long as you have trimmed me well: … the best of allies is he who fills in and does not cut.”
Ibn Ishaq said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) attended to him when he heard of him, calling him to Allah and to Islam. Souwayd said: “Perhaps what you have resembles what I have.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “And what do you have?” Souwayd answered: “The journal of Louqman,” that is, his wisdom. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Present it to me.” He presented it to him, and he said: “These words are good; but what I have is better than this: a Quran Allah has revealed upon me, which is guidance and light.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) recited the Quran to him and called him to Islam, and Souwayd did not go far, saying: “These words are good.” Then he returned to Medina to his people, and soon after, the Khazraj killed him. Men of his people would say: “We do see him killed while he was a Muslim”; his death occurred before Bu’ath. al-Bayhaqi related it, from al-Hakim, from al-Asamm, from Ahmad ibn Abd al-Jabbar, from Younous ibn Boukayr, from Ibn Ishaq, in a version shorter than this one.