Nahr Abi al-Asad

The River of Abu al-Asad is a river at al-Butayha, the marshes. Al-Baladhuri relates that Abu al-Asad, client of the Commander of the Faithful and commander of al-Mansur, dug it. He had been dispatched to Basra during the stay there of Abd Allah ibn Ali, and he was the one who brought Abd Allah ibn Ali into Kufa when he camped between his army and that of Isa ibn Musa, who was fighting Ibrahim ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan.

It is said that he stayed at the river's mouth because ships could not enter it on account of its narrowness, so he widened it, and it was named after him. ¹