and the brother of ʿAbd Allāh, Kathīr, al-Faḍl, Qutham, Maʿbad, and Tammām.
He was born during the Prophet’s ﷺ lifetime, and some maintain that he actually saw him. He has a hadith from the Prophet ﷺ recorded in Sunan al-Nasāʾī (1), although it is judged to be mursal.
Those who narrated from him include his son ʿAbd Allāh, ʿAṭāʾ, Ibn Sīrīn, Sulaymān ibn Yasār, and others.
He was a governor—noble, generous, and highly praised. Muḥammad ibn Saʿd lists him in the fifth stratum of the Companions, stating: “He was one year younger than ʿAbd Allāh,” and adding, “He heard from the Prophet ﷺ.”
He was a merchant and died in Medina. Al-Wāqidī relates that he lived on until the reign of Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah.
I say: He was ʿAbd Allāh’s full brother. He governed Yemen on behalf of his cousin ʿAlī, led the people in the pilgrimage, and when Busr ibn Arṭāʾah slaughtered his two sons in an act of sheer aggression and injustice, their mother was driven to despair over them, and ʿUbayd Allāh fled.
It is also reported that ʿUbayd Allāh (2) once bestowed one hundred thousand upon a man.
(1) 6/148, in the Book of Divorce (talaq), chapter: “Permitting a thrice-divorced woman and the marriage that makes her lawful for her first husband.” Chain: ‘Ali b. Hujr – Hishim – Yahya b. Abi Ishaq (misprinted in the edition as “Yahya ‘an Abi Ishaq”) – Sulayman b. Yasar – Ubayd Allah b. ‘Abbas (misprinted as “‘Abd Allah b. ‘Abbas). Al-Ghumaysa’—or Al-Rumaysa’—came to the Prophet complaining that her husband was unable to approach her. Soon the husband arrived and said, “Messenger of Allah, she is lying; he can approach her, but she wants to return to her first husband.” The Prophet replied: “That is not permissible until you have tasted his sweetness” (i.e., consummated the new marriage).
Ahmad also records the report (1/214) through Hishim with the same chain; all the transmitters are trustworthy, though it is not explicit that Ubayd Allah personally witnessed the incident.
Al-Haythami reproduces it in Majma‘ al-zawa’id, 4/340, in abridged form from Ubayd Allah and al-Fadl b. ‘Abbas, adding: “Abu Ya‘la transmitted it, and its narrators are those found in the sound collections.”
(2) The printed edition mistakenly reads “‘Abd.”