What is "abu'l-awar"

Abū'l-A'war, identified with the Abulathar or Aboubacharos of the Byzantine sources, was an Arab admiral in the 650s.

He commanded the second Arab raid against Cyprus, which probably took place in summer 650. The Arabs besieged the town of Lapithos, but abandoned the siege after the inhabitants paid a large sum of money. It appears that the Arabs did not evacuate the island entirely, however, and that Abu'l-Awar erected a fortress with a garrison of 12,000 men, who according to the Arabic sources remained on the island until the peace treaty of 680, following the failure of the First Arab Siege of Constantinople. Abu'l-Awar seems to have commanded this garrison for some time, since the 10th-century Byzantine emperor Constantine VII records that the Arab "Aboubacharos"—who is likely to be identified with Abu'l-Awar—erected a tomb for his daughter, who died there, which survived to Constantine's day.

According to Michael the Syrian, shortly after this he commanded an expedition against Kos, which was captured and plundered due to the treason of the local bishop. Finally, in 655 he commanded the Arab fleet in the great Battle of the Masts, where the Byzantine navy under Emperor Constans II was annihilated.