‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar said:

“After the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, I have seen no one who surpassed Mu‘āwiyah in the qualities of leadership.” He was asked, “Not even Abū Bakr or ‘Umar?” He replied, “Abū Bakr and ‘Umar were better than him, but after the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, I have seen no one who surpassed Mu‘āwiyah in the qualities of leadership.”

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said: “He meant forbearing”—or he said, “generous.” Hence the saying:

“If ever you wish to lead a tribe,
Lead with forbearance, not haste and abuse.”

For this reason, a group of the early generations explained sayyid as one who leads his people in religion. Ibn Zayd said, “It means the noble.” Al-Zajjāj said, “One who surpasses his people in goodness.”

Ibn al-Anbārī said: “Sayyid here means a chief and a leader in goodness.” Ibn ‘Abbās and Mujāhid explained it as “one held in honour by his Lord,” while Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyib explained it as “a jurist and scholar.”

It has already been mentioned that they call a bottle’s covering simād. Al-Jawharī said: “The ‘ifās is a piece of leather fitted over the head of a bottle. What goes inside its mouth, however, is the simām. The expression ‘afastu al-qārūrah means: ‘I fastened the covering over the bottle.’”

(I say:

In the authentic hadith from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, concerning lost property, he said:

“Then familiarize yourself with its container and its tie.”

The ‘ifās here means whatever holds the dirhams, such as a cloth in which they are tied. The wikā’ is something like the string used to tie it. This is of the same kind as the covering of a bottle. The words ‘afs, sadd, and samad