[5] Upon returning to the camp, he found his mother, holding a knife, telling him that if he hadn't been brave, she would have cut off the breast that nursed him.

Auda and his ibn Jazi rival, Arar's half-brother Abtan, diverted the energies of the Howeitat—previously settled farmers and camel herders—into raiding, greatly increasing the tribe's wealth but introducing a mainly nomadic lifestyle.

[7] Tensions between them and the Ottoman administration had increased after an incident in 1908, when two soldiers were killed who had been sent to demand payment of a tax that Auda claimed to have already paid.

While secretly heading to Ma'an to visit a friend, the police received information about his presence and surrounded the house where he was hiding.

At the beginning of the Great Arab Revolt, he joined the Sharif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali alongside the Howeitat tribe.

According to several researchers, his and his tribe's mobility and knowledge of the desert were significant factors contributing to the success of the Arab Revolt and stood out as one of their assets.

I will not hesitate to offer what remains of my intact body to my nation and people, and I swear to Allah, what I say is a sacrifice.He managed to take Aleppo, in the last days of World War I.

[17] After the collapse of the Arab government in Damascus, which was invaded by France, Auda retired to the desert, building a modern fort at Al-Jafr east of Ma'an with Turkish prisoners of war.

[22] He was presented by some people, on the account of the movie, and to a lesser extent on the book of Lawrence of Arabia as being a sly and greedy individual.

[15][23] Much of this modern-day presentation seems rooted in his sensationalised depiction by Lowell Thomas as a figure of anarchic, primitive masculine energy deliberately set against the idea of British 'civilisation' (see also Orientalism).

[23] T. E. Lawrence portrayed him as someone who epitomized everything noble, powerful, and proud about the Bedouin, "the greatest fighting man in northern Arabia," with an impressive lineage spanning many generations of great desert Howeitat warriors of the Arabian Peninsula.

[22][25] He was portrayed in the David Lean film Lawrence of Arabia by Anthony Quinn,[26] which included various stereotypes against Arabs and his figure.

[23] Auda's descendants were so incensed by the portrayal of their ancestor that they sued Columbia Studios, the film's producers; the case was eventually dropped.