I would have been one of the craftiest members of this ummah.

Ibn ʿUyaynah relates: ʿAmr told me that Qays said, “Had it not been for Islam, I would have devised a stratagem the Arabs could never withstand.”

Al-Zuhrī reports that the people counted Qays among the master strategists of the Arabs; he was a man of penetrating judgment.

They used to say, “When the civil strife erupted, the five great tacticians among the Arabs were Muʿāwiyah, ʿAmr, Qays, al-Mughīrah, and ʿAbd Allah ibn Budayl ibn Warqāʾ al-Khuzāʿī.” (1)

Qays and Ibn Budayl stood with ʿAlī, ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ was with Muʿāwiyah, while al-Mughīrah kept to himself in al-Ṭāʾif until the two arbiters issued their ruling. (2)

ʿAwf narrates from Muḥammad, who said: “Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr and Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥudhayfah ibn ʿUtbah were among the fiercest opponents of ʿUthmān, so ʿAlī appointed Qays ibn Saʿd over Egypt, for he was a resolute man.

“I was informed that he used to say, ‘Were it not that scheming is sinful, I would hatch a plot that would throw the people of Syria into turmoil among themselves.’

“Muʿāwiyah and ʿAmr then wrote to him, inviting him to pledge allegiance to them. He answered with a letter that was severe; they replied with even harsher language, so he returned a conciliatory letter. When they read it, they realized they were no match for his cunning.

“They therefore broadcast in Syria that he had joined their side. The report reached ʿAlī, and his companions said to him, ‘Make haste to Egypt, for Qays has pledged allegiance to Muʿāwiyah.’

“So ʿAlī dispatched Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr and Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥudhayfah to Egypt, appointing Ibn Abī Bakr as governor.

“When the two arrived and conveyed to Qays his dismissal, he realized that ʿAlī had been deceived. He said to Muḥammad, ‘My nephew, beware—meaning the people of Egypt—for they will hand the two of you over and you will be killed.’

“And matters turned out exactly as he had foretold.” (3)