Mudar ibn Nizar

Mudar ibn Nizar ibn Ma'add ibn Adnan, the ancestor from whom the great Mudar tribes descend; the proverb books tell the story of the division of his father Nizar's legacy among his four sons — Mudar, Rabi'a, Iyad and Anmar — including the episode of the sage al-Af'a al-Jurhumi ².

Al-Nuwayri relates that when Nizar was on his deathbed he gathered his sons Mudar, Iyad, Rabi'a and Anmar and assigned each a share: a red leather tent for Mudar, a dark horse and black tent for Rabi'a, a white-haired servant for Iyad, and a purse of silver and a council-seat for Anmar, telling them to consult al-Af'a al-Jurhumi at Najran if they disagreed ³. On the way they described a stray camel they had never seen — one-eyed, said Mudar; lame on one side, said Rabi'a; dock-tailed, said Iyad; straying, said Anmar — each inferring from the traces; the owner accused them until al-Af'a confirmed their deductions, whence the proverbial cleverness of the sons of Nizar ⁴.

• The story is transmitted in the proverb literature rather than the genealogical authorities and is so presented here, attributed to al-Nuwayri.