Zayd al-Khayl

Chief of Tayy, who came with his people's delegation in 9 AH. He embraced Islam and his Islam was sound. The Prophet named him Zayd al-Khayr ¹.

The delegation of Tayy came, and Zayd al-Khayl (may God be pleased with him) was among them. They spoke with the Prophet, who offered them Islam; they embraced it and their Islam was sound ¹. The Prophet said of Zayd: "No man of the Arabs has been described to me for a virtue and then come to me without falling short of what was said of him, except Zayd al-Khayl, for he did not reach all that is in him." He named him Zayd al-Khayr ¹.

He came in the delegation of Tayy, of which he was the chief. The Prophet offered them Islam, and they embraced it and their Islam was sound ². Ibn Ishaq, relating from men of Tayy whom he considered trustworthy, gives the Prophet's words about him. The Prophet named him Zayd al-Khayr, granted him Fayd with its lands, and wrote this down for him ². When he set out homeward, the Prophet said: "If Zayd survives the fever of Medina..." and called it by a name that the narrator did not preserve. When Zayd reached a water in Najd called Farda, the fever struck him and he died. As he sensed death he recited two lines about his people's departure and his being left behind in a tent at Farda ². After his death his wife burned the documents the Prophet had granted him ².