Kairouan, settling people there.
He was a man of bravery, resolve, and devotion; no sound claim of Companionship is established for him. He was present at the conquest of Egypt and received an allotment of land there.
Those who transmitted reports from him include his son—the commander Abū ʿUbaydah, who narrated from him once—together with ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hubayrah, ʿAlī ibn Rabāḥ, and ʿAmmār ibn Saʿd.
Through his mother he was the nephew of al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil al-Sahmī.
Al-Wāqidī states: “Muʿāwiyah outfitted him with ten thousand men; he conquered Ifriqiya and laid out its Kairouan.”
The site was a dense thicket that no one could approach because of predators and snakes. He prayed against them, and none remained—they all fled, to the point that the wild beasts were seen carrying off their young.
Mūsā ibn ʿUlayy related to me from his father, who said: “He called out, ‘We intend to camp here—so move on!’ They poured out of their holes in flight (1).”
A similar report was narrated by Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr from Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥāṭib, who said: “When ʿUqbah conquered Ifriqiya he proclaimed, ‘People of the valley! We are settling here, God willing, so move on!’—three times. We did not see a stone or a tree but that some creature emerged from beneath it until they descended to the valley floor. He then said to the people, ‘Dismount, in the name of Allah.’ (2)”
Al-Mufaḍḍal ibn Faḍālah reported: “ʿUqbah ibn Nāfiʿ’s supplications were answered.”
And ʿAlī ibn Rabāḥ narrated: “ʿUqbah went to Yazīd, who reinstated him as governor of the Maghrib in the year 62 AH. He campaigned against Lower Sus, and on his return—after most of the army had gone on ahead—a force of the enemy attacked him, and ʿUqbah and his companions were killed.”