Yahya ibn Maʿin—through the transmission of al-Kawsaj—together with Abu Zurʿah, al-ʿIjli, al-Nasaʾi and a number of other critics, all declared him reliable.

Yaʿqub ibn Shaybah said, “Yahya ibn Maʿin rated him as highly reliable.”

Al-Nasaʾi remarked, “The man whom Malik, in his book, designates as ‘the reliable narrator from Bukayr’ appears to be ʿAmr ibn al-Harith.”

ʿAmr ibn Sawwad related from Ibn Wahb who said, “I have heard from three hundred and seventy scholars, yet I have never seen anyone with a better memory than ʿAmr ibn al-Harith. The reason is that he bound himself to memorise three hadiths every single day.”

Ibn Wahb reported: ʿAbd al-Jabbar ibn ʿUmar told us that Rabiʿah said, “Knowledge will continue to dwell in Egypt so long as that short man—meaning ʿAmr ibn al-Harith—remains there.”

Harmalah narrated from Ibn Wahb, who said, “We were guided in knowledge by four men: two in Egypt and two in Medina—ʿAmr ibn al-Harith and al-Layth ibn Saʿd in Egypt, and Malik and Ibn al-Majishun in Medina. Had it not been for these men, we would have been astray.”

I say: Rather, were it not for Allah we would indeed be astray. O Allah, had it not been for You, we would not have been guided.

Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Wazir narrated from Ibn Wahb, who said, “If ʿAmr ibn al-Harith had remained with us, we would have had no need of Malik.”

Harun ibn Maʿruf narrated from Ibn Wahb, who said that ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Mahdi requested, “Write down for me some of the hadiths of ʿAmr ibn al-Harith.” So I wrote out two hundred hadiths for him and recited them to him.

Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth narrated from his father, who said, “The difference in merit between ʿAmr ibn al-Harith and his father, al-Harith ibn Yaʿqub, was like the distance between heaven and earth—al-Harith being superior. Likewise, the difference between him and his grandfather Yaʿqub was, in merit, the distance between heaven and earth.”

Abu Hatim al-Razi said, “ʿAmr was the most retentive memoriser of his generation; in his time he had no equal in memorisation.”

Saʿid ibn ʿUfair said, “He was the finest orator of his day, the most eloquent, and the most knowledgeable of poetry.”

Musʿab al-Zubayri said, “Salih ibn ʿAli al-Hashimi sent him out from