ibn Sarraq ibn Ṣubḥ ibn Kindi ibn ʿAmr al-Azdi, of the ʿAtaki branch, originally from Basra.

Born: in the Year of the Conquest. Others say that this date actually applies to his father.

Al-Muhallab related hadiths from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ, Samura ibn Jundab, Ibn ʿUmar, and al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib.

Those who narrated from him include Simāk ibn Ḥarb, Abū Isḥāq, and ʿUmar ibn Sayf.

Ibn Saʿd (1) said: “The tribe of al-Muhallab apostatised, so ʿIkrima ibn Abī Jahl fought them, defeated them, and sent their dependants to al-Ṣiddīq. Among them was Abū Ṣufrah, still in his teens; he later settled in Basra.”

Khalīfa (2) said: “In the year 44 AH al-Muhallab campaigned in India, governed al-Jazīra on behalf of Ibn al-Zubayr, fought the Khārijites, and was subsequently appointed over Khurāsān.”

Several authorities add that al-Ḥajjāj showed him extraordinary deference once he had subdued the Azāriqa, four thousand eight hundred of whom were killed in a single engagement.

Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUmāra narrated from Abū Isḥāq: “I have never seen an emir who was better, more generous, or braver than al-Muhallab—no one further from what he disliked and no one swifter to what he loved.” (3)

Muḥammad ibn Sallām al-Jumaḥī said: “In Basra there were four men without equal: al-Aḥnaf, for his forbearance, chastity, and his standing with ʿAlī; al-Ḥasan, for his asceticism, eloquence, generosity, and the affection people held for him; al-Muhallab ibn Abī Ṣufrah—” and he went on to enumerate his qualities; “and Sawwār the judge, for his chastity and his scrupulous commitment to the truth.” (3)

Al-Muhallab himself said: “What delights me in a man is to see that his intellect exceeds his tongue.” (4)