Amr ibn Ma'dikarib's apostasy after the Prophet's death

Amr ibn Ma'dikarib lived among his people, the Banu Zubayd, who were under Farwa ibn Musayk. When the Prophet died, he apostatized. ¹

When he apostatized, Amr composed two verses mocking Farwa's rule and calling it the worst of rules, comparing its ruler to a donkey that sniffs its own hindquarters, and comparing a man named in the verses to a membrane of deceit. Ibn Hisham says that the word "bi-thafr" comes from Abu Ubayda. ¹

The editors explain "saaf" as sniffing, and "al-thafr" in animals as the equivalent of the womb. "Al-hawla'" is the membrane that comes out with the newborn, and the satirised man is compared to it for baseness and filth. ¹

Ibn Hajar, citing Sayf in the Book of the Apostasy, says that al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya captured Amr and sent him to Abu Bakr, and that he returned to Islam and distinguished himself at al-Qadisiyya. ²

The satire in the two verses is Amr's own, not the museum's. Farwa ibn Musayk was the one the Prophet appointed over Murad, Zubayd and Madhhij. ³