Editing Abd al-Rahman I (section)

===Early life and flight from Damascus===
Abd al-Rahman was born in [[Palmyra]], near [[Damascus]] in [[Bilad al-Sham|the heartland of the Umayyad Caliphate]], the son of the Umayyad prince [[Mu'awiya ibn Hisham]] and his concubine Rah, a [[Berbers|Berber]] woman from the [[Nefzaoua|Nafza]] tribe,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbfORLWv1HkC|title=The Legacy of Muslim Spain|last1=Jayyusi|first1=Salma Khadra|last2=Marín|first2=Manuela|publisher=Brill|year=1994|isbn=978-90-04-09599-1|pages=19|chapter=The Political History of Al-Andalus}}</ref> and thus the grandson of [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik]], [[caliph]] from 724 to 743.<ref>Peter C. Scales, ''The fall of the caliphate of Córdoba: Berbers and Andalusis in conflict'', Brill, 1994, p. 111</ref><ref>[[Arnold Joseph Toynbee]], ''A study of history'', Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1934, Vol. 8, p. 372</ref> According to ibn Idari he was ""tall, blonde, one-eyed, beardless, with a mole in the face, he carried two earlocks".<ref>Manuela Marín,A GALLERY OF ROYAL PORTRAITS: ANDALUSI UMAYYAD SOVEREIGNS (2TH-4TH/8TH-10TH CENTURIES) IN ARAB CHRONICLES, ANUARIO DE ESTUDIOS MEDIEVALES (AEM) 41/1, enero-junio de 2011 pp. 273-290 ISSN 0066-5061, https://estudiosmedievales.revistas.csic.es/index.php/estudiosmedievales/article/view/344/348</ref> He was twenty when his family, the ruling [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyads]], were overthrown by the [[Abbasid Revolution]] in 748–750. Abd al-Rahman and a small part of his family fled Damascus, where the center of Umayyad power had been; people moving with him included his brother Yahya, his four-year-old son Sulayman, and some of his sisters, as well as his Greek ''[[mawla]]'' (freedman or client), Bedr. The family fled from Damascus to the River [[Euphrates]]. All along the way the path was filled with danger, as the [[Abbasids]] had dispatched horsemen across the region to try to find the Umayyad prince and kill him. The Abbasids were merciless with all Umayyads that they found. Abbasid agents closed in on Abd al-Rahman and his family while they were hiding in a small village. He left his young son with his sisters and fled with Yahya. Accounts vary, but Bedr likely escaped with Abd al-Rahman. Some histories indicate that Bedr met up with Abd al-Rahman at a later date.<ref>Ahmed ibn Muhammad al-Maqqari. ''The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain'', 96. Al-Maqqari quotes from historian [[Ibn Hayyan]]'s ''Muktabis'' when detailing Abd al-Rahman's flight from Syria.</ref>

Abd al-Rahman, Yahya, and Bedr quit the village, narrowly escaping the Abbasid assassins. On the way south, Abbasid horsemen again caught up with the trio. Abd al-Rahman and his companions then threw themselves into the River Euphrates. The horsemen urged them to return, promising that no harm would come to them; and Yahya, perhaps from fear of drowning, turned back. The 17th-century historian [[Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari]] poignantly described Abd al-Rahman's reaction as he implored Yahya to keep going: "O brother! Come to me, come to me!"<ref name=al-Maqqari-60>Ahmed ibn Muhammad al-Maqqari, ''The History of the Mohammedan Dynasties in Spain'', p. 60.</ref> Yahya returned to the near shore, and was quickly dispatched by the horsemen. They cut off his head and left his body to rot. Al-Maqqari quotes earlier historians reporting that Abd al-Rahman was so overcome with fear that from the far shore he ran until exhaustion overcame him.<ref name=al-Maqqari-60/> Only he and Bedr were left to face the unknown.