For the life of one who survives me will be of no benefit to me,
and the death of one who dies some day will not make me immortal. (1)

Then ʿUmar said, “May Allah have mercy on Abū Sulaymān; what is with Allah is better for him than what he possessed here. He died (2) sorely missed and lived honorably praised, yet I have seen that time spares no one.” (3)

Ṭulayḥah ibn Khuwailid (4) ibn Nawfal ibn Naḍlah ibn al-Ashtar ibn Ḥajwān ibn Faqʿas ibn Ṭarīf ibn ʿAmr (5) ibn Quʿayn ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Thaʿlabah ibn Dūdān (6) ibn Asad ibn Khuzaymah, of the Asad tribe, clan of Faqʿas, was among those who fought at the Battle of the Trench on the side of the polytheists. He embraced Islam in the year 9 AH and traveled with his delegation to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Madinah. After the Prophet’s death, during the caliphate of al-Ṣiddīq, he apostatized and, as noted earlier, claimed prophethood. Ibn ʿAsākir narrated (7) that he had, in fact, asserted prophethood during the Prophet’s lifetime and that his son Khiyāl (8) came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who asked him, “What is the name of the being that comes to your father?” He replied, “Dhū al-Nūn, who neither lies nor betrays, and is unlike other beings.” The Prophet said, “He has named a mighty angel.” He then added, “May Allah kill you and deprive you of martyrdom,” and sent him back the way he had come.

Khiyāl was killed in one of the Ridda engagements—slain by ʿUkkāshah ibn Miḥṣan—after which Ṭulayḥah killed ʿUkkāshah, and he had several encounters with the Muslims. Allah then humbled him through Khalid ibn al-Walid; his troops scattered, and he fled until he reached Syria, lodging with the house of Jafna, where he remained until al-Ṣiddīq died, out of shame before him.

Subsequently he returned to Islam and performed ʿumrah; afterwards he came to greet (9) ʿUmar. ʿUmar said to him, “Be gone from me, for you have killed two righteous men—ʿUkkāshah ibn Miḥṣan and Thābit ibn Aqram.” He replied, “O Commander of the Believers, they are two men whom Allah honored through my hands, and He did not disgrace me through theirs.” ʿUmar admired his reply and was pleased with him, writing to the governors to consult him but not to appoint him to any post.

Ṭulayḥah then returned to Syria as a combatant; he fought at Yarmuk and in other battles such as al-Qādisiyyah and Nihāwand against the Persians. He was counted among the notable warriors and renowned heroes, and after all of this his Islam became exemplary.