Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah said, “Abu Bakr is ten years older than I am.”

Al-Akhnasi related, “I heard Abu Bakr say, ‘By Allah, if I knew that someone were seeking hadith in such-and-such a place, I would go to his house myself to narrate to him.’ ”

Muhammad ibn ʿIsa ibn al-Tabbaʿ reported: “Abu Bakr ibn ʿAyyash once appeared before Sharik as a witness. Sensing a measure of disdain from Sharik, he said, ‘I seek refuge in Allah from becoming a tyrant.’ Sharik retorted, ‘I never imagined this grain-seller could be so foolish.’ ”

Abu Ahmad al-Zubayri said, “I was with al-Thawri while Abu Bakr ibn ʿAyyash was absent. His brother al-Hasan ibn ʿAyyash arrived, and Sufyan asked, ‘How is Shuʿbah? Has he come back yet?’—meaning his brother.”

Bishr al-Hafi narrated that ʿIsa ibn Yunus said, “I asked Abu Bakr ibn ʿAyyash about narrating hadith. He replied, ‘If you enjoy being requested to narrate, you are unworthy to be approached; but if you dislike being approached, you are more likely to be safe.’ ”

Yaʿqub al-Fasawi said, “I heard Ahmad ibn Yunus—when they mentioned to him a narration they regarded as objectionable which Abu Bakr had transmitted from al-Aʿmash—remark: ‘Al-Aʿmash used to strike those people, curse them, and drive them away, yet he would take Abu Bakr by the hand and sit with him in a corner because of the Quran.’ ”

Abu Hisham al-Rifaʿi related: “Abu Bakr ibn ʿAyyash said to al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan in Medina, ‘What has the turmoil left of you?’ He replied, ‘What turmoil did you ever see me in?’ Abu Bakr said, ‘I saw them kissing your hand and you did not stop them.’ ”

Abu Hisham al-Rifaʿi also said, “I heard Abu Bakr ibn ʿAyyash declare, ‘Abu Bakr al-Siddiq is the Messenger of Allah’s successor, peace and blessings be upon him, by the explicit wording of the Quran, for Allah—Exalted is He—says: “For the poor…” ’ ”