Yaḥyā said, “I saw the two sons of Abū Shaybah come to him; he kept them at arm’s length. They asked him for a book, but he would not give it to them, so they left talking about him.

Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-ʿIjlī remarked, “Bakr ibn Yūnus ibn Bukayr is unobjectionable. His father served under Jaʿfar, in charge of grievances, though some people consider both of them weak.”

Ibn Abī Ḥātim said: Abū Zurʿah was asked, “What do you find fault with in him?” He replied, “As far as his hadith is concerned, I know of nothing (1).”

Abū Ḥātim added, “His standing is that of a truthful man.”

Abū ʿUbayd narrated from Abū Dāwūd, who said, “He is not an authority in my view; he takes Ibn Isḥāq’s material and attaches it to other reports. He heard from Ibn Isḥāq in Rayy.”

Al-Nasāʾī said, “He is not strong,” and on another occasion, “Weak.”

Ibn Ḥibbān and others judged him reliable.

A report from Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn likewise states, “Trustworthy, except that he is a Murjiʾ who follows the authorities (2).”

Abū Isḥāq al-Jawzajānī said, “One should exercise caution regarding him.”

ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī said, “I wrote from him, but I do not transmit from him.”

Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah related that Yaḥyā al-Ḥammānī told him, “I do not deem it permissible to narrate from Yūnus.”