and the most striking—his voice carried farther than anyone else’s, and he combined that with abundant forbearance and true nobility.
Mughīra narrated from Abū Razīn who said:
“It was asked of al-ʿAbbās, ‘Are you older, or is the Prophet ﷺ?’
He replied, ‘He is greater, whereas I was born before him.’ (1)
Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār said: “Al-ʿAbbās kept a cloak for any unclothed member of Banū Hāshim, a large serving bowl for any one of them who was hungry, and a manzara (2) for those among them who were ignorant.
He shielded the neighbour, spent freely of his wealth, and was forthcoming with aid in times of hardship.
His drinking companion in the pre-Islamic era was Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb.
Ibn Saʿd reported: Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar told us—he said: Ibn Abī Ḥabība related to me, from Dāʾūd ibn al-Ḥuṣayn, from ʿIkrima, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:
“Al-ʿAbbās had embraced Islam before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ migrated to Medina.” (3)
(1) Cited by al-Haythami in Majmaʿ al-zawaʾid, 9/270, who remarks: “It is reported by al-Tabarani and its transmitters are those of the Sahih.” Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi also records it in Kanz al-ʿummal, 13/521, attributing the report to Ibn ʿAsakir and Ibn al-Najjar.
(2) The correct reading is al-manzara (also written al-maqtara); the printed edition has the corrupted form anaʾ. Tahdhib Ibn ʿAsakir, 7/228, likewise reads al-maqtara. According to Lisanu ʾl-ʿArab, it denotes the stocks: a split beam pierced with holes, each hole the width of a leg, into which the prisoners’ legs are inserted—hence the derivation from qatar (to lead camels in a single file), because the captives are lined up side by side, their legs locked in the holes of the wooden plank. Ibrāhim ibn Hurma alludes to it in his verse: “ʿAbbas possessed three things we count … a chain that restrains the wronged, a large bowl … and a fine striped mantle ….”
(3) Tabaqat Ibn Saʿd, 4/31; the isnad is weak, as the author notes. See also al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, 3/321. Ibn Hajar states in al-Isaba that the sound view is that al-ʿAbbas embraced Islam on the day of Badr.