Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas

c. 595 - 674 CE

One of the ten promised paradise. First man to shoot an arrow in defence of Islam. The Prophet ﷺ said to him: 'Shoot, Sa'd. May my father and mother be sacrificed for you.' Commanded the Muslim army at Qadisiyya that broke the Sasanian Empire.

Life

Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas was one of the earliest to accept Islam, at seventeen. He fought at Badr, Uhud, and every subsequent expedition of the Prophet ﷺ. At Uhud, when the archers left their post and the Meccans reached the Prophet, Sa'd stood with the small band that defended him. The Prophet handed Sa'd arrows from his own quiver, saying: "Shoot, Sa'd. May my father and mother be sacrificed for you." No other Companion in the sources is spoken to that way by the Prophet.

Sa'd is the only Companion whose parents both were dedicated to him in this manner in a preserved hadith. He was among the ten promised paradise.

In 15 AH, Umar appointed him commander of the Muslim army marching against the Sasanian Empire. At Qadisiyya, over four days in November 636 CE, Sa'd's army of about 30,000 broke a Sasanian force of perhaps 100,000 with elephants. Their commander, Rustam, was killed. The Sasanian capital Ctesiphon fell within weeks. The Persian empire that had stood against Rome for four centuries collapsed within a season.

Sa'd founded the garrison city of Kufa on Umar's instruction. He served as governor of Kufa and later of other provinces. He died in 674 CE, aged nearly 80, one of the last of the ten survivors of the Prophet's inner circle.

Stories

Each story below is drawn from the classical Islamic historical sources.