The Man Who Held His People

When the Prophet ﷺ died, many Arab tribes broke away from the obligations of Islam. Tayyi' wavered too. 'Adi stayed with them, reminded them of what they had witnessed, and held them to Islam. He then brought the tribe's zakat to Abu Bakr in Madinah. Abu Bakr and the scholars after him remembered him as one of the few chiefs through whom a whole tribe was kept from apostasy.

'Adi fought in the conquests of Iraq, and later stood on the side of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib in the civil strife. He is reported to have lost an eye at the Battle of the Camel. It is also reported that, after the fighting, he grieved over the bloodshed among the Muslims and regretted it. That sorrow is how the Sunni tradition prefers to remember him: not as a partisan but as one who loved both sides.

He settled in Kufah, lived a very long life, and died there around 68 AH. His generous father's reputation was passed down, but so was his own: he was known for his steadiness and for the many hadith he narrated, among them the Prophet's ﷺ saying to guard oneself from the Fire, even with half a date.