He served the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, for ten years.

In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (1) Anas relates: “With the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, Qays ibn Saʿd held the position of the commander of a ruler’s security force.”

He carried the banner of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in a number of expeditions, and the Prophet appointed him over the collection of ṣadaqah (the obligatory alms).

When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, dispatched Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrah together with three hundred of the Emigrants and the Helpers, they were struck by severe hardship; Qays ibn Saʿd thereupon slaughtered nine camels for them. They later came upon a great creature on the seashore, ate from it, and lived on it for a month until they grew strong again.

Qays was a noble leader—obeyed, generous, widely praised, and courageous.

ʿAlī appointed him deputy-governor of Egypt. Through his astuteness, stratagem, and political skill he resisted Muʿāwiyah and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ. Muʿāwiyah, however, kept working against him until ʿAlī removed him from Egypt (2) and installed Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq in his stead; Muʿāwiyah then belittled the latter and persisted until, as mentioned earlier, he seized Egypt from him.

Qays remained with ʿAlī, fighting beside him at Ṣiffīn and al-Nahrawān, and stayed with him until ʿAlī was killed. He then returned to Madinah; once the people were united under Muʿāwiyah he came to pledge allegiance to him, as the rest of his companions had done.

ʿAbd al-Razzāq reports—on the authority of Ibn ʿUyaynah—that when Qays ibn Saʿd arrived before Muʿāwiyah, the latter said, “So even you, O Qays, have joined those who have joined against me! By Allah, I had wished you would not appear before me today unless one of my own nails had drawn painful blood from you.” Qays replied, “By Allah, I too disliked standing here only to greet you with this greeting.” Muʿāwiyah retorted, “And why? Are you not merely a rabbi from the rabbis of the Jews?” Qays answered, “And you, O Muʿāwiyah, were one of the idols of pagan ignorance; you entered Islam unwillingly and have left it willingly.” Muʿāwiyah said, “O Allah, forgiveness! Give me your hand.” Qays ibn Saʿd responded, “If you wish, I can go on and on.”

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah recounts that an old woman once said to Qays, “I complain to you of the lack of mice in my house.” Qays exclaimed, “What a fine euphemism! Fill her house with bread, meat, clarified butter, and dates.” (3)

Another narrator said: he possessed a large platter (4) that was carried wherever he went, and a herald would call out for him, “Come for meat and tharīd!” His father and grandfather before him had done the same.