Interesting descriptions by the early Basran scholar Qatādah (d. 736) of the imagery reputedly found on the rings (ḫawātīm) of the prophet Muḥammad's companion from al-Dhahabī’s Siyar (vol. 7, p. 16;citing al-Jāmiʿ of Maʿmr ibn Rāshid, d. 770):
archive.org/stream/siar_no…
archive.org/stream/siar_no…
Abū Mūsā l-Ašʿarī = a lion flanked by two men
Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ = the words “The fifth-share of the spoils (al-ḫumus) belongs to God” [i.e., the Muslims collectively, not the caliph individually]
Anas ibn Mālik = a crane (kurkī) with two heads
Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ = the words “The fifth-share of the spoils (al-ḫumus) belongs to God” [i.e., the Muslims collectively, not the caliph individually]
Anas ibn Mālik = a crane (kurkī) with two heads
Maʿmar also includes an interesting anecdote the signet ring possessed by the Hāshimite, ʿAbdallāh ibn Muḥamamd ibn ʿAqīl ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d. 142/759), said to have belonged the prophet Muḥammad:
Maʿmar says, “He would show the signet ring and claimed that the Prophet would use it as his seal. It bore the figure of a lion on it. I saw a member of the family drink the water used to wash it.”
Looking at the unpublished manuscript of the Jāmiʿ of Maʿmar, there appears more that do not appear in the printed edition:
ثنا عبد الرزّاق ثنا معمر عن جابر عن القاسم، قال: كَانَ نَقْشُ خَاتَمِ عَلِيٍّ: اللهَ الَملِك
[ʿAlī’s ring said: God is King]
ثنا عبد الرزّاق ثنا معمر عن جابر عن القاسم، قال: كَانَ نَقْشُ خَاتَمِ عَلِيٍّ: اللهَ الَملِك
[ʿAlī’s ring said: God is King]
