ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muʿāwiyah entered al-Andalus in 138 AH.
He was born in the land of Tadmur in 113 AH, during the caliphate of his grandfather.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim Ibn Bashkuwāl relates:
“When Umayyad rule in the East came to an end, he fled together with two brothers younger than himself and a slave of theirs. They kept themselves hidden, even though rewards had been posted for their capture and lookouts stationed everywhere. They travelled on until they reached Wādī Bijāyah (1). There they sent the slave to buy them some bread, but the silver coins aroused suspicion; the boy was arrested and beaten until he confessed. Cavalry was dispatched. When ʿAbd al-Raḥmān saw the horsemen, he prepared to swim and said to his brothers, ‘Swim with me.’ He made it to safety, but they were slower. The horsemen signalled to them with promises of amnesty, yet when the two brothers came within their reach they slaughtered them, while ʿAbd al-Raḥmān watched from afar.
“Afterwards a venerable elder, faithful and generous, sheltered him and said, ‘I shall conceal you to the utmost of my ability.’ A search was conducted in Bijāyah until the pursuer arrived at the elder’s house. The elder had a large wife; he seated her as though she were combing her hair and hid ʿAbd al-Raḥmān beneath her garments, then shouted, ‘Glory be to Allah! These are women’s quarters!’ They replied, ‘Cover your women,’ and departed. Allah protected him for a time.
“Later he crossed into al-Andalus in a fisherman’s skiff and landed at the town of al-Munakkab (2). The commanders and soldiers of al-Andalus were mawālī of the Umayyads. He sent word to one of the commanders and informed him of his identity; the man kissed his hands, rejoiced at his arrival, kept him by his side and said, ‘The one we used to speak of has arrived: when the rule of Banū Umayyah ends in the East, an ʿAbd al-Raḥmān will rise from them in the West.’
“He then wrote to the mawālī, apprised them of the matter, and they rejoiced and unanimously agreed to pledge allegiance to him; they took every precaution to…"