Ghudaif ibn al-Harith (1) ibn Zunaim al-Sakuni—his status as a Companion is disputed. He is reported to have narrated from several Companions, yet some maintain that he belonged to the Successors of Syria. He settled in Homs and used to lead the Friday congregational prayer on behalf of Khalid ibn Yazid. He was counted among the righteous (2).
Yazid ibn al-Aswad (3) al-Jurashi embraced Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ. He later came to Syria and resided in the village of Zabdīn in the Ghūṭa region; he also owned a house inside the Eastern Gate of Damascus. A devout worshiper, he was given to abundant fasting and frequent participation in jihad. Muʿawiya once sought rain for the people of Syria by means of his supplication, whereupon they were granted rain (4).
Each night he would perform the last ʿIshāʾ prayer in the Damascus Mosque, then set out for Zabdīn; his right thumb would shine, and he would walk by its light all the way to Zabdīn (5). He died there (6).
ʿAmr ibn al-Aswad (7), Abū ʿAyyād al-ʿAnsi of Homs, was among the leading Successors of Syria—distinguished for his asceticism, worship, and tireless striving, and known for rarely eating to satiety (8). He died in Homs (9).
(1) Biography of Ghadīf ibn al-Ḥārith in Tabaqāt Ibn Saʿd (vol. 7: 429), where he is called ʿAtīf; also in Tabaqāt Khalīfa (308); al-Maʿrifa wa al-Tārīkh (1: 461); al-Istīʿāb (3: 187); Tārīkh Abī Zurʿa (1: 388; 603–604); Usūd al-Ghāba (4: 340); Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (23: 112); Tārīkh al-Islām (Annals for the years 61–80, pp. 506–508); Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (8: 248–250); and al-Iṣābaẗ (3: 186–187).
(2) The passage from “and he wiped his head” to this point is omitted in this edition.
(3) Biography of Yazīd ibn al-Aswad in Tabaqāt Ibn Saʿd (7: 444); Tabaqāt Khalīfa (285); Tārīkh al-Bukhārī (8: 318); al-Istīʿāb (3: 660); Tārīkh Dimashq (65: 107); Usūd al-Ghāba (5: 103); Tārīkh al-Islām of al-Dhahabī (Annals for the years 61–80, pp. 538–539); Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (4: 136–137); and al-Iṣābaẗ (3: 673).
(4) The report appears in Tabaqāt Ibn Saʿd (7: 444) and in Tārīkh al-Islām (Annals for the years 61–80, p. 539).
(5) In Tārīkh Dimashq (65: 107).
(6) There are some variant readings among the manuscripts; we have preferred the reading in manuscript A, as it accords with the sources.
(7) Biography of ʿAmr ibn al-Aswad in Tabaqāt Ibn Saʿd (7: 442); Tabaqāt Khalīfa (280); Tārīkh al-Bukhārī (6: 315); al-Maʿrifa wa al-Tārīkh (2: 314); Hilyat al-Awliyāʾ (5: 155–157); Tārīkh Dimashq (45: 407–418); Usūd al-Ghāba (4: 84–85); Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (21: 543); Tārīkh al-Islām (Annals for the years 61–80, pp. 490–492); Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ (4: 79–81); Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (8: 4–6); and al-Iṣābaẗ (3: 120).
(8) In the original sources it reads “at-Tashayyuʿ” (Shiʿism), which is undoubtedly a corruption; the correct reading is the one we have recorded. It is narrated that he would leave much of his meal out of fear of gluttony (Tārīkh Dimashq of Ibn ʿAsākir 45: 418; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 4: 80).
(9) The full biography is omitted in this edition.