As members of the Qays confederation, the Sulaym defected from the Umayyads and recognized Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr's caliphate. They participated in the Battle of Marj Rahit in 684, during which the Umayyads and their Kalbi allies routed the Qays. About 600 members of the Sulaym were slain during the battle. Later, in 686, the Sulaym exacted revenge on the Umayyads when, under their Dhakwani chief Umayr ibn al-Hubab, they defected midway during the Battle of Khazir, which resulted in an Umayyad rout at the hands of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi's forces. Afterward, Umayr and the Sulaym joined the paramount Qaysi rebel leader Zufar ibn al-Harith al-Kilabi, who was based in al-Qarqisiyah. Under Umayr the Sulaym encroached on the tribal territory of the Taghlib along the Khabur River, provoking a war with the Taghlib, in the course of which Umayr was ultimately slain in 689. Afterward, the Sulaym were led by al-Jahhaf ibn Hakim al-Dhakwani in their final battles with the Taghlib in 692 and 693.