In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
This is what the Prophet Muhammad granted to ʿAbbās ibn Mirdās al-Sulamī: he gave him the property known as Madfūr (1). Whoever contests him over it has no claim, whereas his claim is valid. Written and witnessed by al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿUqbah.
Then he said:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This is what Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, has granted to ʿAwsajah ibn Ḥarmalah al-Juhanī: [land] stretching from Dhī al-Marwah (3), and everything between Balkathah (4) and al-Ẓabiyyah (5), up to al-Jaʿalāt and as far as Jabal al-Qabliyyah (6). Whoever disputes him over it has no claim, whereas his claim is established. Written by al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿUqbah.
Al-Wāqidī (7), with his chains of transmission, reports that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ allotted land to Banū Shankh (8) of Juhaynah, and that al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿUqbah wrote and witnessed their deed.
Ibn al-Athīr, in al-Ghābah (9), mentions this man briefly, saying: “Al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿUqbah used to write for the Prophet ﷺ. He is cited in the ḥadīth of ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, related by Jaʿfar and recorded by Abū Mūsā—the Madinian—in his book.”
Among them—may Allah be pleased with him—is Muḥammad ibn Maslamah ibn Salamah ibn Ḥuraysh ibn Khālid ibn ʿAdiyy ibn Majdaʿah ibn Ḥārithah ibn al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khazraj al-Anṣārī al-Ḥārithī, known as Abū ʿAbd Allāh; some say Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and others Abū Saʿīd al-Madanī, the ally of Banū ʿAbd al-Ashhal. He embraced Islam at the hands of Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr—though some say it was Saʿd ibn Muʿādh and Usayd ibn Ḥuḍayr. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Madinah, he paired him with Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ. He was present at Badr and all subsequent engagements, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed him governor of Madinah during the Tabūk campaign.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr states in al-Istiʿāb (12): “He was very dark-skinned, tall, bald, and heavy-set, and he was among …”