Bilāl ibn Saʿd transmitted—from someone who had seen him in Byzantine territory riding that mule—that he would ride it for one stage of the journey and then let the Emigrants ride it for the next (1).

Bilāl added: Whenever ʿĀmir set out on campaign he would look carefully at those who wished to accompany him; if he found a company that pleased him, he would stipulate that he be allowed to serve them, call the adhān, and spend on them to the limit of his ability.

Ibn al-Mubārak related this report in full in his Kitāb al-Zuhd (2).

Hammām narrated—on the authority of Qatādah—that ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Qays used to ask his Lord to remove from his heart the desire for women, so that he no longer cared whether the person he met was male or female. He also begged his Lord to shield his heart from Satan while he was in prayer, but he could not achieve that. Later it was said that the distraction left him (3).

Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Mujāshiʿī reported: Someone asked ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Qays, “Do you entertain thoughts during the prayer?” He replied, “I occupy myself only with standing before Allah and with what awaits me when I leave.”

Kaʿb said that he saw ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Qays in Syria and declared, “This man is the monk of this community.”

Abū ʿImrān al-Jawni related: People said to ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Qays, “You spend the night outdoors—do you not fear the lion?” He answered, “I would be ashamed before my Lord to fear anything other than Him.” Hammām transmitted the same report from Qatādah (4).

Ḥammād narrated—from Ayyūb, from Abū Qilābah—that a man met ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Qays and said, “What is this [celibacy]? Did not Allah say, ‘We gave them spouses and offspring’ (al-Raʿd 38)?” He replied, “Did not Allah, exalted be He, also say, ‘I created jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me’ (adh-Dhāriyāt 56)?” (5).