Editing Abd al-Rahman I (section)

==Legends==

In his lifetime, Abd al-Rahman was known as ''al Dakhil'' ("the Entrant"), but he was also known as ''Saqr Quraish'' ("The Falcon of the [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraish]]"), bestowed on him by one of his greatest enemies, the Abbasid caliph [[al-Mansur]].

According to the chroniclers, [[al-Mansur]] once asked his courtiers who deserved the exalted title of "Falcon of the [[Quraysh (tribe)|Quraysh]]" (''Saqr Quraish'', foremost of the Quraysh). The obsequious courtiers naturally replied "You, O [[Commander of the Faithful]]!", but the Caliph denied this. Then they suggested [[Mu'awiya I|Mu'awiya]] (founder of the Umayyad Caliphate), but the Caliph again denied it. Then they suggested [[Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan]] (one of the greatest of the Umayyad caliphs), but again no. They asked who it was, and al-Mansur replied:<ref>Safi, L. (1995) "Leadership and Subordination: An Islamic Perspective". ''The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences'', pp. 2-12</ref>

{{Blockquote|The falcon of Quraysh is Abd al-Rahman, who escaped by his cunning the spearheads of the lances and the blades of the swords, who after wandering solitary through the deserts of Asia and Africa, had the boldness to seek his fortune without an army, in lands unknown to him beyond the sea. Having naught to rely upon save his own wits and perseverance, he nonetheless humiliated his proud foes, exterminated rebels, organized cities, mobilized armies, secured his frontiers against the Christians, founded a great empire and reunited under his scepter a realm that seemed already parcelled out among others. No man before him ever did such deeds. Mu'awiya rose to his stature through the support of Umar and Uthman, whose backing allowed him to overcome difficulties; Abd al-Malik, because of previous appointment; and the Commander of the Faithful [i.e. al-Mansur himself] through the struggle of his kin and the solidarity of his partisans. But Abd al-Rahman did it alone, with the support of none other than his own judgment, depending on no one but his own resolve.}}