Ash'ab al-Tami'

Ash'ab the Greedy — his name Shu'ayb b. Jubayr; a mawla whose clientage is disputed: to 'Uthman, or 'Abdallah b. al-Zubayr, or Sa'id b. al-'As, or Fatima bt. al-Husayn. He was al-Asma'i's uncle, lived a very long life reaching 'Uthman's era, recited the Qur'an and practised devotion. ¹

He transmitted from 'Abdallah b. Ja'far, al-Qasim b. Muhammad, Salim b. 'Abdallah and 'Ikrima; he has delightful tales of his greed and witticisms at Medina, and he sang — songs were related of him. ¹

Ash'ab, nicknamed "the Greedy", was a Medinese comedian who moved in the circles of the grandchildren of the first four caliphs and flourished in his profession in the early years of the eighth/beginning of the second century. He is said to have survived until 154 AH (771). The historical information about him is plentiful, though much of it is legendary, and it allows a glimpse of the life of a professional entertainer in the Umayyad period. The jokes connected with his name concern politics, religion and middle-class life; the middle-class jokes came last in the chronological development of the Ash'ab legend, but since early 'Abbasid times they have enjoyed the greatest popularity. A famous parody of the hadith transmitters has him say that he heard 'Ikrima report that the Prophet ﷺ named two qualities of the true believer, and when asked which they were, replied that 'Ikrima had forgotten one and he had forgotten the other. Even more famous is the story of greedy Ash'ab, who tries to rid himself of annoying children by saying that free gifts are being distributed somewhere, and then runs after them because he thinks the story might be true. ²