Al-Zuhrī narrated—from Ibn al-Musayyib, from Ṣafwān—who said: “I came to the Prophet ﷺ and he gave to me; he kept on giving to me until he became, indeed, the most beloved of all people to me. ⦗1⦘
Abū al-Zinād said: Seven men would line up, serve food, and invite people to it every single day—ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah ibn Khalaf ibn Wahb ibn Ḥudhāfah, together with his forefathers.
It was said that the azlām (divining arrows) in the pre-Islamic era were kept with Ṣafwān, and he was the chief of the Banū Jumah. ⦗2⦘
Abū ʿUbaydah said: They relate that Ṣafwān ibn Umayyah amassed so much wealth before Islam that he possessed a qinṭār of gold—and so did his father. ⦗3⦘
Al-Haytham and al-Madāʾinī stated that he passed away in the year 41 AH.
120 – Abū Thaʿlabah al-Khushani* (ʿ)
Companion of the Prophet ﷺ.
When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ prepared to march toward Hunayn, he sent word to Safwan ibn Umayya asking him for one hundred coats of mail together with their necessary equipment. Safwan said, “Are you taking them by force, O Muhammad?” The Prophet replied, “No, they are only a guaranteed loan until we return them to you.” Al-Hakim judged the chain of transmission sound although the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it; al-Dhahabi concurred, so the hadith is authentic.
(1) Muslim, no. 2313 (Book of Virtues); Ahmad, 6/465; Ibn Saad, 5/449; al-Tirmidhi, no. 666.
(2) Al-Isaba, 5/145. The azlam were the arrows the pre-Islamic Arabs used for divination. As al-Azhari notes, Quraysh kept arrows inscribed with such phrases as “Command,” “Prohibition,” “Do,” and “Do not do.” After being smoothed and placed in the Kaaba under the care of its custodians, the arrows were drawn when someone contemplated a journey or a marriage: if the arrow marked “Command” emerged, he carried out his plan; if the arrow marked “Prohibition” appeared, he refrained.
(3) Tahdhib Ibn Asakir, 6/434.
* Musnad Ahmad, 4/106, 193; Tabaqat Ibn Saad, 7/416; Tabaqat Khalifah, 305.