Page:Baladhuri-Hitti1916.djvu/413

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The Conquest of as-Sawâd
397

had released. Ibn-al-Kalbi says that abu-Farwah ʿAbd ar-Raḥmân ibn-al-Aswad and Nuṣair abu-Mûsa ibn-Nuṣair were both Arabs of [the clan of] Arâshah of [the tribe of] Bali and that they were taken captives from Jabal al-Jalîl [Mt. Galilee] in Syria during the caliphate of abu-Bakr. Nuṣair's name was originally Naṣr which was later used in the diminutive form Nuṣair. Some one of the banu-Umaiyah gave him his liberty; and he returned to Syria where in a village called Kafarmara[1] his son Mûsa was born. Mûsa was lame. Al-Kalbi adds that some one said that the two [Nuṣair and abu-Farwah] were brothers taken captives from ʿAin at-Tamr, and that they owed their liberty to the banu-Ḍabbah.

According to ʿAli ibn-Muḥammad al-Madâʾini, it is stated by someone that abu-Farwah and Nuṣair were of the captives of ʿAin at-Tamr. Abu-Farwah was bought by Nâʿim al-Asadi who sold him later to ʿUthmân who used him for digging graves. When the people rose up against ʿUthmân, abu-Farwah joined them and said to ʿUthmân, "Restore what thou hast wrongfully taken from others!" To this ʿUthmân replied, "Thou representest the first thing. I bought thee out of the ṣadaḳah funds that thou mayest dig the tombs; but thou hast left that." His son ʿAbdallâh ibn-abi-Farwah was one of the illustrious freedmen. One of his descendants[2] was ar-Rabîʿ ibn-Yûnus ibn-Muḥammad ibn-abi-Farwah, a companion of al-Manṣûr. Abu-Farwah was thus called because of a furred garment [Ar. farwah] which he had on when he was taken captive.[3]

According to certain reports, Khâlid made terms with the

  1. "Kafarmathra" in Marâṣid, vol. ii, p. 504.
  2. Caetani, vol. ii, p. 945.
  3. Aghâni, vol. iii, p. 127, adds Kaisân, one of the ancestors of abu-l-ʿAtâhiyah, to the list of captives.