ʿAbd Allah ibn Bakr said, “I heard a man relating from my father that, while he was standing on ʿArafah (the Plain of ʿArafah), his heart softened and he said, ‘Were it not that I am among them, I would have declared that they have all been forgiven.’”⦗1⦘

I say: This is how a servant ought to censure and humble his own soul.

Abu Hilal transmitted from Ghalib al-Qattan, from Bakr: When Bakr was brought to be appointed to the judiciary he said, “Let me tell you about myself: by Allah, I have no knowledge of judging. If I am truthful, you should not employ me, and if I am lying, then do not place a liar in office.”⦗2⦘

Humayd al-Tawil narrated from Bakr that he said, “I hope to live the life of the wealthy and to die the death of the poor.” And so it was—may Allah have mercy on him—he would put on his fine clothes, then go to the poor, sit with them, converse with them, and say, “Perhaps they will be pleased by that.”⦗3⦘

Sulayman al-Taymi said: “The value of Bakr’s outfit was four thousand; his mother was well-to-do and had a husband of great wealth.”⦗4⦘

ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAmr al-Raqqi narrated from Kulthum ibn Jawshan: Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allah bought a taylasān (hooded cloak) for four hundred dirhams. When the tailor wished to cut it and moved to sprinkle dust on it, Bakr said, “Leave it as you are.” He then ordered camphor to be ground and sprinkled that over it instead.⦗5⦘

ʿAmr ibn ʿAsim al-Kilabi reported: ʿUtbah ibn ʿAbd Allah al-ʿAnbari said, “I heard Bakr al-Muzani say in his supplication: ‘I awoke owning none of what I hope for, unable to ward off what I fear; my affair lies in the hand of Another, and no pauper is poorer than I.’”⦗6⦘