Qays ibn al-Haytham al-Sulamī (Arabic: قيس بن الهيثم السلمي) (fl.
Under the caliphs Uthman (r. 644–656) and Mu'awiya I (r. 661–680) he served at time as the sub-governor of Khurasan and the cities of Nishapur and Marw al-Rudh.
[7] He was again replaced by his cousin Abd Allah after failing to quell a revolt at Qarin and briefly imprisoned in Basra until his mother intervened on his behalf.
[11] By then, Qays had become the leader of the Banu Sulaym faction of Basra, one of five tribal divisions of the city's garrison.
[14] Together with a Basran tribal noble from the Azd–Rabi'a faction, al-Nu'man ibn Suhban al-Rasibi, Qays was an arbitrator for selecting the successor of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad as governor of Basra following Ubayd Allah's expulsion in the aftermath of Yazid's death in 683.
Qays was dispatched with the Basran security forces to stamp out an attempt by supporters of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, the pro-Alid ruler of Kufa, to gain control of Basra.