al-Af'a al-Jurhumi

Al-Afa ibn al-Afa al-Jurhumi, king of Najran in al-Mas'udi's account. The sons of Nizar ibn Ma'add brought their dispute over the division of their father's inheritance to him. ²

Nizar divided his estate among his sons Iyad, Anmar, Rabi'a and Mudar in a symbolic way: the grey-haired slave-girl, the red dome, the black horse and the purse. He told them that if the division was unclear, they should come to al-Afa. They set out for Najran and met on the road a man who had lost a camel. They described it to him exactly, although they had not seen it, until he questioned them and ruled on the division. ²

When they stopped at his hospitality, he sent a servant to listen to what they said. Each one spoke of the food and drink he had seen, which revealed the source of what they had seen, and al-Afa was satisfied. He asked Umm Mudar, who told him her story. Then he set out the division in detail: to Iyad the speckled sheep, to Anmar the cattle and the tilled land, to Rabi'a the dark horses and the weapons, and to Mudar the red camels and the gold. ³