Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas

Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas al-Zuhri was one of the ten companions promised Paradise (al-'ashara al-mubashshara) and among the foremost commanders of Islam. He embraced Islam very young and is remembered as "the first to shoot an arrow in the path of God" and as "Faris al-Islam" (the Knight of Islam). As commander-in-chief at the Battle of al-Qadisiyya he defeated the Sasanian army, and he founded and first governed Kufa. Umar included him in the six-man council that would choose his successor. He chose neutrality during the civil strife and spent his last years on his estate at al-'Aqiq near Medina. He died there around 55 AH (some say 58 AH); by his will his body was carried to Medina and buried in the Jannat al-Baqi cemetery, reportedly shrouded in the worn cloak he had worn at the Battle of Badr. His grave today is unmarked, like all graves in Baqi, since the structures were removed and its exact location cannot be determined.