Others said that his kunya was Abu Hatim.
He was born during the caliphate of ʿUmar, and was the very first child to be born in Basra.
He heard hadith from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, his own father, and ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAmr.
Those who transmitted from him include: Muhammad ibn Sirin, ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, Abu Bishr, ʿAli ibn Zayd ibn Judʿan, Khalid al-Haddhaʾ, Qatadah, Ibn ʿAwn, and others.
He accompanied his father in a delegation to Muʿawiyah, and later visited him once again.
Khalifah and others said: He was born in 14 AH.
The author says: At that time Basra was still very small; its construction was not yet complete.
Ibn Saʿd (1) said: While they were at al-Khuraibah (2) they slaughtered a camel on his behalf, fed the people of Basra—who numbered three hundred—and it sufficed for them.
He also said: He was reliable and possessed a collection of hadiths.
ʿAbd al-Wahid ibn Safwan related: I heard ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakrah al-Thaqafi say,
“I am the most favored of people: I am the father of forty, the paternal uncle of forty, and the maternal uncle of forty. My father is Abu Bakrah, my uncle is Ziyad, and I am the first child born in Basra, for whom a camel was slaughtered.” (3)
Hudbah ibn Khalid transmitted this from him.
Hisham narrated from Ibn Sirin that a man fell ill and buffalo milk was prescribed for him. He therefore sent word to ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakrah: “Send us a water-buffalo.”
ʿAbd al-Rahman sent him nine hundred buffalo. The man said, “I only wanted one!”
He replied, “Then take them all.” (4)
This story has also been related about his brother, the emir ʿUbayd Allah, and that version is the more likely one. (5)