and Mishraḥ ibn Hāʿān (8), from ʿUqbah ibn ʿĀmir, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared, “The people have [merely] submitted, whereas ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ has truly believed.”

He also reported (1): Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr narrated to us, Abū Usāmah narrated to us, from Nāfiʿ ibn ʿUmar al-Jumahī (2), from Ibn Abī Mulaykah, who said: Talḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allah related, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Indeed, ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ is one of the righteous men of Quraysh.’”

In another narration: “The two sons of al-ʿĀṣ are believers” (3).

And in yet another ḥadith: “What an excellent household: ʿAbd Allah, Abū ʿAbd Allah, and Umm ʿAbd Allah” (4). These reports are cited in the chapter on the virtues of ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ.

Afterwards, al-Ṣiddīq sent him as one of the army commanders to Syria. He witnessed those campaigns, displaying sound judgment, praiseworthy stands, and auspicious outcomes.

ʿUmar then dispatched him to Egypt; he conquered it and was installed as its governor. ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān kept him in office for four years, then removed him—as mentioned earlier—and appointed (5) ʿAbd Allah ibn Saʿd ibn Abī Sarḥ in his stead. ʿAmr withdrew to Palestine, harboring some resentment toward ʿUthmān (may Allah be pleased with him). When ʿUthmān was killed, he went to Muʿāwiyah, fought alongside him in every engagement—at Ṣiffīn and elsewhere—and served as one of the two arbiters.

Once Muʿāwiyah re-took Egypt from Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr, he reinstated ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ as governor. ʿAmr remained in that post until his death in this year, according to the most widely accepted view. Others maintain he died in 47 AH, still others in 48 AH, and some say in 51 AH—may Allah have mercy on him.

He was counted among the shrewdest, bravest, and most clear-sighted of the Arabs. He coined fine maxims and composed good poetry. It is related that he said, “I retained a thousand proverbs from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” Among his verses:

If a man will not forsake the food he loves,
Nor curb a wayward heart wherever it would rove