He was born two years and some months after the birth of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and he died when he was sixty-three years old.

Ibn Kathir said: As for that which Khalifah ibn al-Khayyat narrated that Yazid ibn al-Asamm said, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Abu Bakr, ‘Am I older {akbar - also greater) or you?’ And he said, ‘You are greater than me but I have more years than you,’ it is a mursal (attributed directly to the Prophet without mention of the Companion from whom it was heard) ghareeb (unusual, in having a single reporter at some stage of the isnad) tradition, and what is well known is the opposite (i.e.

the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was older), and it is true only of al-cAbbas (that he was some years older than the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

His early life was in Makkah, which he only left for trade, and he had great wealth among his people, complete manliness, and munificence, and courtesy among them, as Ibn ad-Daghniyyah said, ‘You join ties of kinship, you are truthful, you attain what others are denied, you support those in need, you help in difficult times, and you are hospitable to the guest.’ An-Nawawi said: He was one of the chiefs of Quraysh in the Jahiliyyah, one of their counsellors, beloved among them, and the wisest in the direction of their affairs. Then when Islam came he preferred it over everything else, and entered into it perfectly and completely.

Az-Zubayr ibn Bakkar and Ibn cAsakir narrated that Macruf ibn Kharrabudh said: Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, was one of ten men of Quraysh who united pre-eminence in Jahiliyyah and Islam. He had responsibility for the settlement of blood-money and debts. That was because Quraysh had no king to whom all affairs could be referred. Rather in each tribe there was a general area of responsibility which resided in its chief; so l bat Banu Hashim had responsibility for giving (the pilgrims) to drink, and feeding them (by collecting from the tribes of Quraysh), meaning that no-one ate or drank except from their food and drink.

Banu cAbd ad-Dar had responsibility for being the doorkeepers and guardians (of the Kacbah) and for the banner and council, i.e. no-one could enter the House without their permission, and whenever Quraysh fastened on the banner of war, the Banu cAbd nd-Dar bound it for them, and whenever they assembled together for a matter, either to confirm or annul it, their assembly could not be anywhere but in the House of Council, nor decided upon except t here, and it belonged to Bani cAbd ad-Dar.’