Abū Bakra, Nufayʿ b. Masrūḥ (d. 52/672), was one of the Companions and clients (mawālī, sing. mawlā) of the Prophet. His mother was Sumayya and according to Ibn Qutayba (p. 288), came from Zandward (near Wāsiṭ). It is said that Kisrā (Khusraw), the king of Persia, offered her to Abū al-Khayr, the ruler of Yemen who, in turn, gave her to the Arab physician al-Ḥārith b. Kalada al-Thaqafī as a reward for curing him when he fell ill. However, this account is not corroborated in other sources nor are any further det…