during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he transmitted only a single report from his father—the ḥadīth that begins, “When night approaches from this side …” (1).
Those who narrated from him were his two sons Ḥafs and ʿUbayd Allah (2), together with ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr.
After his father divorced his mother, his grandmother al-Shamūs bint Abī ʿĀmir took charge of him. al-Ṣiddīq ruled in her favor, remarking, “Her scent and her tenderness are dearer to him than yours.”
Later, when his father married him off during his own caliphate, he maintained him from the public treasury for one month. Thereafter he stopped the allowance, gave him one-eighth of his wealth, and ordered him to engage in trade and provide for his household.
Several authorities relate that a dispute arose over a piece of land between ʿĀṣim and al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn. When ʿĀṣim perceived anger on al-Ḥasan’s face he said, “It is yours.” Al-Ḥasan replied, “No, it is yours.” So they both abandoned the land, and neither they nor any of their heirs laid claim to it until people from all sides encroached upon it.
ʿĀṣim was a dignified leader—noble, generous, and virtuous. al-Wāqidī states that he died in the year 70 AH in Madinah.
Among those who also died that year were:
• Qabīṣah ibn Jābir ibn Wahb al-Asadī al-Kūfī (3), Abū al-ʿAlāʾ, one of the eminent Successors. He attended ʿUmar’s sermon at al-Jābiya, was Muʿāwiyah’s foster-brother, and was famed for his eloquence.
• Qays ibn Dhurayḥ (4), Abū Zayd al-Laythī, the poet—well known as a man of the Ḥijāzī desert and, according to some, al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī’s foster-brother. He was passionately in love with Umm Maʿmar Lubnā bint al-Ḥabbāb al-Kaʿbiyya, whom he married and later divorced. After the divorce his infatuation only intensified (5); he recited verses about her, wasted away physically,
and when his anguish became severe Ibn Abī ʿAtīq came to him, took him, and went with him to ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar. He pleaded, “May my father and mother be your ransom, mount with me to fulfill a need.” ʿAbd Allah mounted, and he enlisted four of the leading men of Quraysh to accompany him. They went along, unaware of his intention, until he brought them to the door of Lubnā’s husband, and out came