in prayer, he would gather his beard against his chest.

Abū Saʿīd told me; ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ajlaḥ narrated to us, saying: “I saw Mansūr; of all people he stood most perfectly in prayer, and he used to dye his beard with henna.”

al-ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad told me; Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Aswad narrated to us; I heard Ibn Mahdī say: “In Kūfa there were no transmitters more reliable than four,” and he began with Mansūr, then Abū Ḥuṣayn, Salamah ibn Kuhayl, and ʿAmr ibn Murrah. He added, “Mansūr was the most reliable of them.”

Aḥmad ibn ʿImrān al-Akhnasī narrated to us: I heard Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh say, “May Allah have mercy on Mansūr; he was ever fasting and devoted to night prayer.”

Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn said, “No one knew Mansūr’s hadith better than al-Thawrī.”

Ḥuṣayn also narrated from Mansūr, and Ḥuṣayn was older than he.

Hushaym reported that Ḥuṣayn was asked, “Are you older, or is Mansūr?” He replied, “I still remember the night when Mansūr’s mother was escorted to his father as a bride.”

Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh, on the authority of Mughīrah, said: “Mansūr used to attend the lessons of Ibrāhīm—who was among the most devout of worshippers—but when he turned to gathering the reports, his zeal slackened.”

Using this same chain al-Baghawī said: al-Akhnasī narrated to us; I heard Abū Bakr say, “Had you seen Mansūr ibn al-Muʿtamir, Rabīʿ ibn Abī Rāshid, and ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Nujūd in prayer, with their beards resting on their chests, you would have known that they were the foremost exemplars of prayer.”

Ibn al-Madīnī, on the authority of Yaḥyā, was asked about Ibrāhīm’s companions: “Which of them is dearest to you?” He answered, “If you have Mansūr, your hands are full—you need no one else.”

Sufyān used to say, “Whenever I narrated something to al-Aʿmash from anyone else, he would reject it; but if I said, ‘Mansūr,’ he remained silent.”