He embraced Islam during the Prophet’s lifetime—peace and blessings be upon him. He related hadith from Ibn Masʿūd, ʿAlī, and Ibn al-Zubayr, and a number of the Successors transmitted from him.
Al-Shaʿbī said, “In judicial matters he matched Shurayḥ.”
Ibn Numayr added, “Whenever a case puzzled Shurayḥ he would write to ʿUbaydah about it and act on his ruling.” More than one scholar praised him. ʿUbaydah al-Salmānī was one-eyed and was among the companions of Ibn Masʿūd who issued legal verdicts to the people. He died in Kufah.
His death occurred in this very year, though some say in seventy-three, others in seventy-four—Allah knows best.
It has also been said that Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr was killed this year—Allah knows best.
Among the other notable figures who died this year were:
• ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Sāʾib (1) ibn Ṣayfī al-Makhzūmī, the leading Qur’an reciter of Mecca. He enjoyed the Prophet’s companionship and transmitted hadith; he had learned the Qur’an from Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, and Mujāhid and others learned from him.
• ʿAṭiyyah ibn Busr (2) al-Māzinī, who likewise possessed companionship and transmitted hadith; he died in Madinah.
• ʿUbayd ibn Nuḍaylah (3), Abū Muʿāwiyah al-Khuzāʿī al-Kūfī, the principal Qur’an reciter of Kufah, renowned for piety and worship; he died in Kufah this year.
• ʿAbd Allah ibn Qays al-Ruqayyāt (4) al-Qurashī al-ʿĀmirī, a poet who composed panegyrics for Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr and ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar.
(1) Biography of ʿAbd Allāh b. al-Sāʾib in: Ibn Saʿd, Tabakāt (vol. 5, p. 445); Al-Khālifah, Tabakāt (p. 110); Tārīkh al-Bukhārī (vol. 5, p. 8); Al-Maʿrifah wa-l-Tārīkh (vol. 1, p. 247); Al-Istiʿāb (vol. 2, pp. 380–382); Asad al-Ghābah (vol. 3, p. 170); Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (vol. 14, p. 553); Tārīkh al-Islām, annals of 61–80 AH (p. 146); Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (vol. 5, p. 229); Al-Iṣābah (vol. 2, p. 314); Al-Wāfī bi-l-Wafayāt (vol. 17, pp. 187–188). Al-Dhahabī adds: “He died after seventy AH and is counted among the minor ṣaḥābah.”
(2) Biography of ʿUṭīyah b. Busr in: Tārīkh al-Bukhārī (vol. 7, p. 10); Al-Istiʿāb (vol. 3, pp. 145–146); Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (vol. 20, p. 142); Tārīkh al-Islām, annals of 61–80 AH (p. 485); Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (vol. 7, p. 223); Al-Iṣābah (vol. 2, p. 484). Ibn Ḥajar notes the correct spelling as Busr (with a damma on the isolated bāʾ and a silent sīn).
(3) Biography of ʿUbayd b. Nuḍaylah in: Ibn Saʿd, Tabakāt (vol. 7, pp. 116, 211); Al-Khālifah, Tārīkh (p. 273, where he is misnamed ʿUbayd b. Faḍlah); Tabakāt al-Khālifah (p. 150); Tārīkh al-Bukhārī (vol. 6, p. 5); Al-Maʿrifah wa-l-Tārīkh (vol. 2, p. 556); Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (vol. 19, p. 239); Al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, annals of 61–80 AH (p. 480); Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb (vol. 7, pp. 75–76).
(4) Biography of ʿAbd Allāh b. Qays al-Ruqayyāt in: Al-Aghānī (vol. 5, pp. 73–100); his Dīwān, Vienna edition, 1902; Wafayāt al-Aʿyān (vol. 3, pp. 88, 196); Khizānat al-Adab (al-Baghdādī) (vol. 3, p. 267); Al-Dhahabī, Tārīkh al-Islām, annals of 81–100 AH (p. 404); Al-Kāmil fī al-Adab (al-Mubarrad) (vol. 1, p. 399). Edited by Abū al-Faḍl Ibrāhīm.