Usayd ibn Hudayr, chief of the Banu ʿAbd al-Ashhal in Medina, was one of the twelve delegates (nuqabaʾ) at the second ʿAqaba. One night as he was reciting the Quran, his horse grew restless and he saw above him something like a cloud full of lamps; the Prophet ﷺ told him: “Those were the angels listening to you” (Muslim 796). The Prophet ﷺ also said: “What an excellent man Usayd ibn Hudayr is!” (al-Tirmidhi 3795).
Usayd is the diminutive of asad, “the lion”: it means “little lion, lion cub”, with the affectionate nuance of the Arabic diminutive. The Arabs liked to give their sons lion names, a symbol of courage, such as Asad or Hamza. It should not be confused with Asid (أَسِيد), another old name, borne for instance by the father of the Companion Hudhayfa ibn Asid. The name is rare and is given mainly in memory of Usayd ibn Hudayr.
In Arabic
أُسَيْدأسيد
Transliteration
Usayd
Root
أ س د
Gender
Boy
Origin
Arabic
Is Usayd in the Quran?
No: neither the name Usayd nor its root appears in the Quran. A name can be beautiful and permissible without coming from the Quran.
Abu Sa‘īd al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: While Usayd ibn Hudayr was reciting in his dates storehouse at night, his horse got startled and began to jump. He again recited, and the horse got startled and began to jump again. He again recited, and it got startled and began to jump…
