He was based in the city of Homs where the Himyar and other Yemenite tribes dominated the Muslim garrison and heeded Samayfa over the overall governor of Syria, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan.
Samayfa is first mentioned in the historical record as the head of the Dhu al-Kala family, the most powerful in Yemen in the days of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, during the caliphate of Abu Bakr (r. 632–634).
[3] According to the historian Wilferd Madelung, Samayfa originally intended to settle in Damascus, the leading center of Syria, where he could firmly establish Himyarite dominance over the region.
Samayfa's ambitions may have prompted the Medina-based caliph Umar (r. 634–644) to shore up support for his deputies in Syria, the Sufyanid brothers Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan and Mu'awiya and their tribal allies the Banu Kalb, to stifle the Himyarites.
[7] Indeed, the killings of Samayfa and the Himyarite leader of the Alhan clan in a clash on the previous day, marked the gradual deterioration of their tribe's influence in Syria.