Abu'l-Awar

Abūʾl-Aʿwar ʿAmr ibn Sufyān ibn ʿAbd Shams al-Sulamī (Arabic: أبو الأعور عمرو بن سُفيان بن عبد شمس السلمي‎‎), identified with the Abulathar or Aboubacharos (Greek: Ἀβουλαθάρ, Ἀβουβάχαρος) of the Byzantine sources (fl. 629–669), was an Arab admiral and general, serving in the armies of the Rashidun caliphs Abu Bakr (r. 632–634), Umar (r. 634–644) and Uthman (r. 644–656) and the Muslim governor of Syria and later Umayyad caliph, Mu'awiyah I (r. 661–680).

He was one of the last prominent members of the Banu Sulaym tribe to convert to Islam, and fought against Muhammad at the Battle of Hunayn in 629. After becoming a Muslim, he took part in the conquest of Syria in the 630s and fought at Yarmouk. Later, he commanded the Muslim Arab navy during the campaigns against the Byzantines in the eastern Mediterranean, including the decisive Muslim victory at the Battle of the Masts in 655. His army was also responsible for the destruction of the colossus of Rhodes. From the First Muslim Civil War until his disappearance from the historical record in the 660s, Abu'l-A'war served Mu'awiyah in a number of capacities, including as a commander and negotiator at the Battle of Siffin, an operative under 'Amr ibn al-'As in Egypt, a tax administrator in Palestine and the governor of Jordan; he had held the latter post since the reign of Uthman.