Hishām al-Dustuwāʾī also transmitted—from Qatādah, from Zurārah ibn ʿAwfā, from Usayr ibn Jābir—who said:
Whenever the contingents from Yemen arrived, ʿUmar would ask them, “Is Uways ibn ʿĀmir among you?” Until at last Uways himself came. ʿUmar said to him, “Are you Uways ibn ʿĀmir?” He replied, “Yes.”
ʿUmar asked, “From the clan of Murād and then Qaran?”
“Yes,” he answered.
“Did you once suffer from a white skin condition and recover from it except for a spot the size of a dirham?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Do you have a mother?”
“Yes,” he replied.
ʿUmar then said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘Uways ibn ʿĀmir will come to you with the reinforcements from Yemen. He is from Murād and then Qaran. He was afflicted with a white skin condition which was removed except for an area the size of a dirham. He has a mother to whom he is devoted. Were he to swear by Allah, Allah would surely honor his oath. So if you can have him ask forgiveness for you, then do so. Pray for my forgiveness.’”
So Uways prayed for him. ʿUmar then asked, “Where are you headed?”
“To Kūfah,” he answered.
“Shall I write to its governor so that he treats you well?” ʿUmar offered.
Uways replied, “I would prefer to remain unknown among the common people.”
The following year a nobleman from that region came on pilgrimage. ʿUmar asked him about Uways, “How did you leave him?” The man answered, “In a humble dwelling with little property.” ʿUmar said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: ‘Uways will come to you with the reinforcements from Yemen. He was afflicted with a white skin condition which was removed except for an area the size of a dirham. He has a mother to whom he is devoted. Were he to swear by Allah, Allah would surely honor his oath. If you can have him ask forgiveness for you, then do so.’”
When the man returned home he went to Uways and said, “Pray for my forgiveness.”
Uways answered, “You have returned more recently from a righteous journey; you pray for me. Tell me—did you meet ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb?”
“Yes,” the man replied. So Uways prayed for him.
When people realized who he was, he slipped away.
Usayr ibn Jābir said, “I once clothed him in a cloak, and whenever someone saw it he would ask, ‘Where did Uways get that?’”
Muslim recorded the full version of this report.
Shurayk narrated—from Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā—who said, “On the day of Ṣiffīn, a crier from the followers of Muʿāwiyah called out to the supporters of ʿAlī: …”