Dirar ibn al-Khattab

Dirar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) ibn Mizdas ibn Kathir ibn Amr ibn Shayban ibn Muharib ibn Fihr, al-Fihri al-Qurashi, a horseman and poet whom Ibn Hibban counted among those with companionship ¹.

Ibn Hibban says he had companionship and was a horseman-poet; his father was the chief of Banu Fihr in his day, as al-Zubayri states, and Dirar was among the knights — Quraysh had no poet above him except, after him, Ibn al-Ziba'ra ¹. Ibn Sa'd says he fought with the Muslims in the battles in the hardest of the fighting and used to say "I married ten of the Prophet ﷺ's companions to the houris"; he is mentioned at Uhud and the Trench ¹. Al-Tabarani transmits from him that he had a thousand grazing camels which he gave up, and the Prophet said "profitable was the sale"; it is said he embraced Islam at the Conquest and was killed a martyr at al-Yamama ¹.

Al-Khatib says rather that he lived to attend the conquest of al-Mada'in and settled in Syria ². Ibn Manda says of him: he has a mention but no hadith ². Al-Dhahli transmits in al-Zuhriyyat from al-Sa'ib ibn Yazid that Umar ibn al-Khattab (may God be pleased with him) asked to be entertained with Dirar ibn al-Khattab's poetry ². Abu Ubayda relates the affair that made Umm Jamil al-Dawsiyya's protection famous: Hisham ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira killed Abu Uzayhir al-Dawsi, his people leapt on Dirar ibn al-Khattab to kill him, and he entered Umm Jamil's house and took refuge with her ².

Dirar ibn al-Khattab was a Qurashi horseman and poet of Banu Fihr; the biographical books remember him among the knights and leading poets of his age, and tell how he sold a thousand camels for God's cause, whereupon the Prophet said "profitable was the sale".

• Al-Isaba entry no. 4215 (al-Maktaba al-Asriyya scan, pp. 712–713).
• His death is disputed as transmitted by al-Isaba: martyred at al-Yamama, or alive to the conquest of al-Mada'in and resident in Syria (al-Khatib); Ibn Hajar himself corrects a report placing his martyrdom in Abu Bakr's caliphate.
• On his hadith: Ibn Manda says "a mention but no hadith", while al-Tabarani does transmit the report of the camels and the sale.