Yahya ibn Maʿin said, “Misʿar never once travelled in quest of hadith.”

I say: Yes indeed; most of his narrations are from the scholars of his own town, except for Qatadah, which suggests that he must have journeyed to meet him.

Shuʿbah ibn al-Hajjaj remarked, “We used to call Misʿar ‘the Mushaf’—meaning, because of the accuracy with which he transmitted.”

On one occasion people asked Misʿar, “Who is the finest man you have ever met?” He replied, “ʿAmr ibn Murrah.”

Abu Maʿmar al-Qatiʿi reported that people once asked Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, “Who is the best man you have encountered?” He answered, “Misʿar.”

Shuʿbah also said, “For the people of Kufah, Misʿar is what Ibn ʿAwn is for the people of Basrah.”

Ishaq ibn Abi Israʾil related: “I heard Ibn al-Sammak say—I heard Misʿar declare: ‘Whoever studies hadith for his own sake has already sufficed; but whoever pursues it for the sake of others must apply himself with utmost diligence.’”

Ibn ʿUyaynah said, “I heard Misʿar say, ‘I wish the hadith were glass vessels balanced upon my head, so that they might tumble down and shatter.’”

Yaʿla ibn ʿUbayd observed, “Misʿar combined knowledge with scrupulous piety.”

ʿAbd Allah ibn Dawud al-Khuraibi recounted, “Everyone’s record reveals some fault—everyone’s, that is, except Misʿar’s.”

Among the lines of verse that Misʿar was fond of reciting—whether they were his own or another’s—are:

Your day, O heedless soul, is squandered in distraction,
Your night is spent in sleep, while death remains your constant companion.