when Shuʿbah passed away, I saw him seven days later; he was holding the hand of Misʿar, and both were wearing shirts of light. I said, “Abū Bisṭām, how has Allah treated you?”
He replied, “He has forgiven me.”
I asked, “On what account?”
He said, “Because I was truthful in transmitting hadith, spread it far and wide, and discharged the trust that it entails.” Then he began to recite:

My Lord has granted me in Paradise a lofty pavilion
Whose thousand doors are fashioned of silver and pearl.
My drink in the Garden is pure nectar, my ornaments
Of finest beaten gold, beneath a radiant crown.
My reward (1) is the veil of the maidens, and God has favored me
With a palace of ruby whose very soil is ambergris.
The All-Merciful said to me: “O Shuʿbah,
Who dived deep into the seas of knowledge and gathered much,
Enjoy My nearness, for I am pleased with you
And with My servant who prayed by night, Misʿar.
Enough honor for Misʿar that he will visit Me;
I shall lift My veils, draw him close, and let him gaze.” (2)
… and there are further verses.

Al-Aṣamm reported: Abū Qilābah al-Raqāshī narrated to us; Abū Zayd al-Harawī narrated to us; I heard Shuʿbah say:

“To plummet from the sky and be shattered is dearer to me than to practice tadlīs (concealment in transmission).”

Al-Qawārīrī said: I heard Yaḥyā al-Qaṭṭān relate from Shuʿbah that he said:

“People are of three kinds: some carry their reason with them; some leave their reason at the doorway; and some have no reason at all. The one whose reason is with him is he who considers what will issue from him before he speaks. As for the one whose reason is at his doorway, he is the one who …”—and he mentioned another saying.

Makkī ibn Ibrāhīm said: Shuʿbah was asked about Ibn ʿAwn and he replied, “Clarified butter and honey.”

He was asked, “What do you say about Hishām ibn Ḥassān?”
He answered, “Vinegar and oil.”

He was asked, “What do you say about Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī?”
He said, “Leave me be; I do not wish to vomit because of him.”

Ibn ʿUyaynah said: I heard Shuʿbah declare:

“Whoever pursues hadith will end up penniless; I even sold my mother’s wash-basin for seven dinars.”