from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “Every newborn is born upon the fitra (natural disposition) (1)…,” and he narrated the rest of the report.

Yahya al-Qattan said, “Shuʿbah was among the most tender-hearted of people; he would give the petitioner whatever he could.”

Abu Qatan remarked, “Shuʿbah’s clothes were like dust; he prayed often and was generous.”

ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Abi Rawwad related, “Whenever Shuʿbah scratched his body, dust would fall from him; he was generous and prayed a great deal.”

Abu Dawud al-Tayalisi said, “We were with Shuʿbah when Sulayman ibn al-Mughira came in weeping and said, ‘My donkey has died; I missed Jumuʿah and my errands have gone to waste.’ Shuʿbah asked, ‘How much did you pay for it?’ He answered, ‘Three dinars.’ Shuʿbah replied, ‘I have three dinars—by Allah, I own nothing else,’ and he handed them to him (2).”

Al-Nadr ibn Shumayl said, “I have never seen anyone more compassionate toward the poor than Shuʿbah.”

With the chain of transmission I have already cited to al-Baghawi, ʿAli ibn al-Jaʿd narrated to us: “Shuʿbah came to Baghdad twice—once in the days of al-Manṣur and once in the days of al-Mahdi; on both occasions I wrote hadith from him.”

Abu al-ʿAbbas al-Sarraj said: Muhammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, “I heard our teachers say: al-Mahdi gifted Shuʿbah thirty thousand dirhams, which he distributed, and he also allotted him a thousand—”