Medina to Egypt to serve as a tutor for his sons.
Abu Saʿid ibn Yunus states in his History: “He was a jurist and a man of letters; he educated the children of Salih ibn ʿAli.”
ʿAbbas narrated from Yahya who said: “He used to teach the children of Salih ibn ʿAli. At first he was in dire straits, but once he had instructed them his fortunes improved and he began to wear washy and khazz (figured silk and brocade).”
Yahya ibn Bukayr reported from al-Layth, who said: “I used to see ʿAmr ibn al-Harith wearing clothes whose total value was a single dinar—his shirt, his cloak, and his waist-wrapper. It was not long before I saw him trailing washy and khazz—indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we shall return.”
ʿUmar ibn Shabbah related that Muhammad ibn Mansur told him that ʿAmr ibn al-Harith said: “Nobility is of two kinds: the nobility of knowledge and the nobility of authority, and the nobility of knowledge is the higher of the two.”
Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hajjaj ibn Rishdin said: “I heard Ahmad ibn Salih mention al-Layth and say, ‘He is an imam; Allah, exalted be He, has made his right incumbent upon us.’ I asked, ‘Al-Layth an imam?!’ He replied, ‘Yes. After ʿAmr ibn al-Harith there has been no one in the land like al-Layth.’”
Abu ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Ajram, the hadith master, said: “ʿAmr ibn al-Harith was copious; his hadiths are exceedingly scarce, yet he combined knowledge with reliability, and his narrations seldom leave Egypt.”
The hadith scholar Abu Bakr al-Khatib said: “He was a Qur’an reciter, a jurist, a mufti, and trustworthy.”
Ibn Makula likewise said: “He was a reciter and a mufti; he issued legal opinions during the time of Yazid ibn Abi Habib and ʿUbayd Allah ibn Abi Jaʿfar. He was also a man of letters, eloquent.”
Yahya ibn Bukayr said: “He was born in 91 or 92 AH.”
Saʿid ibn ʿUfair said: “In 92 AH.”
Ibn Yunus said: “He was born in 93 AH.”
Al-Khatib and al-Amir said: “He was born in 94 AH.”
Abu Dawud said: “He lived for 58 years.”
Ibn ʿUfair, Yahya ibn Bukayr, Ahmad ibn Salih, Ibn Yunus and others said: “He died in 148 AH.”
Ibn Yunus added: “In Shawwal of that year.”
Ibn Saʿd and Yaʿqub al-Sadusi said: “He died in 147 or 148 AH,” and Abu ʿUbayd reported the same.
Al-Ghalabi narrated from Yahya ibn Maʿin: “He died in the year —”