He narrated from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, Ziyād ibn ʿIlāqah, ʿAlqamah ibn Marthad, Zubayd al-Yāmī, Muhārib ibn Dithār, Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, and several others. He was counted among the prolific narrators.

Among those who transmitted from him were his two close companions, Shuʿbah and al-Thawrī, as well as Yaḥyā ibn Ādam, Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr al-Sulūlī (1), ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd, Yaḥyā al-Ḥimmanī (2), Muḥammad ibn Bakkār ibn al-Rayyān, and many others besides.

Shuʿbah used to commend him. ʿAffān and others also declared him reliable.

Ibn ʿAdī (3) said: “The majority of his reports are sound; the judgment concerning him is what Shuʿbah stated—there is nothing objectionable about him.”

Yaʿqūb ibn Shaybah remarked, “According to all of our scholars he is truthful, and his notebook is acceptable.” He then added, “Yet his retention is extremely poor, and he makes many mistakes.”

Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā said, “I never heard Yaḥyā or ʿAbd al-Raḥmān relate anything from Qays at all.”

And Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh said, “Qays did not differentiate between (kurih, ‘it is disliked’) and (lā baʾs, ‘there is no harm’).”