He is the son of Abū al-ʿĀṣ; through Marwān his line ascends
to a family whose pedigree and forefathers are altogether pure.

(1) al-Wāqidī used to say: “ʿAbd al-Malik’s siege of ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd al-Ashdaq took place in the year 69 AH. He had returned from Baṭnān (2) and besieged him in Damascus; ʿAmr’s death followed in the year 70 AH. Allah knows best.”

This is the biographical entry of al-Ashdaq (3):

He is ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ (4) ibn Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams, Abū Umayyah al-Qurashī al-Umawī, better known as al-Ashdaq. It is said that he saw the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him— (5) and that he related the report: “No parent has ever endowed a child with a finer gift than good manners” (6), along with another hadith on the emancipation of slaves. He also narrated from ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, and ʿĀʾishah, while his own sons—Umayyah, Saʿīd, Mūsā, and others—transmitted from him.

Muʿāwiyah appointed him governor of Madinah, an office renewed by Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah after his father’s death, as mentioned earlier. Al-Ashdaq ranked among the leading men of the Muslims and among their famous benefactors: he gave generously and undertook weighty enterprises. His father named him sole executor of the estate among his sons (7), and that father, as noted above, was himself renowned for liberality and nobility.

ʿAmr declared, “Since attaining manhood I have never insulted anyone, nor have I compelled a petitioner to voice his need; indeed, his coming to me is more of a favour to me than my gift to him.”

Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib said, “The pre-Islamic orators of the people were al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and Suhayl ibn ʿAmr; the orators of the Muslims are Muʿāwiyah and his son, Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ and his son, and ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.”

Imām Aḥmad (8) said: “ʿAbd al-Ṣamad narrated to us; Ḥammād narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn Zayd narrated to us; he informed me from someone who heard…”