He was also the co-founder (with the future caliph Muʿāwiyah I) of the Islamic navy which seized Cyprus (647–649) and defeated a Byzantine fleet off Alexandria in 652.
[3] al-Sarh came from the Banu Amir ibn Lu'ayy clan of the Quraish tribe and was an adopted brother of the caliph Uthman.
[4][5] Abi Saleh, narrated from Ibn Abbas, recorded that: "the Messenger of Allah invited him so that he could write him the revelation, so when the verse 23:12 ("And certainly did We create man from an extract of clay") was revealed, the Prophet called Ibn Abi al-Sarh, and dictated it to him and when the Prophet reached the end of 23:14 ("...Thus, We formed him into a new creation") Abdullâh said in amazement ("فتبارک اللّٰہ احسن الخالقین So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!").
[7][8] Al-Sarh further tested his doubts, with Muslim historians Waqidi, Ibn al-Athir and Tabari writing that Muhammad dictated him: "عليم حکيم" i.e. "Allah is All Knowing All-Wise", which al-Sarh deliberately wrote in the opposite order, i.e. "حکيم عليم, All-Wise All Knowing".
[9] The report was narrated by Muhammad bin al-Sa'ib al-Kalbi from Abi Saleh, who attributed it to Ibn Abbas.
Despite Muhammad Ibn ‘Umar al-Waqidi being praised and acknowledged for his extensive knowledge of the maghazi,[6] he is widely deemed weak (da'if) by the hadith scholars and all authors of the Kutub al-Sittah.
They are: Arba’ah b. Abi Yahya in Madinah, al-Waqidi in Baghdad, Muqatil b. Sulayman in Khurasan and Muhammad bin Sa’id al-Kalbi in Syria.
"[18]When Muhammad had gathered enough troops to besiege Mecca, he issued an order to his followers that Abdallah al-Surh was to be killed.
Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 2683 records that: "on the day when Mecca was conquered, the Messenger of Allah gave protection to the People except four men and two women and he named them.
[16] Umar appointed him as second-in-command (lieutenant) to Amr ibn al-As for the campaign of conquest of Egypt.
Abd Allah brought over a large foreign entourage and established the diwan, "and commanded that all the taxes of the country should be regulated there".
When he reached maturity he participated in the foreign military campaigns and accompanied Abd Allah to Egypt as an aide.
Abd Allah wrote to Uthman claiming that Muhammad was spreading sedition and that if nothing was done to stop him, the situation would escalate.
In 656 Egyptian community leaders decided to send a delegation to Medina to demand Abd Allah's dismissal.
In the meantime, Uthman was assassinated in Medina, and when Abd Allah heard the news, he left Palestine, and went to Damascus to live under the protection of Muawiyah I.