He went on:

A man once said to Bishr—while I was present—“This man,” meaning Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal, “was asked: ‘Is not Allah eternal, and is not everything besides Him created?’”

Bishr did not let the man finish before he declared, “No. Everything is created except the Quran.”

Ahmad ibn Bishr al-Marthadī said: Ibrahim ibn Hāshim narrated to us:

“We buried with Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith 18 containers, from a sewing satchel (qimatr) to a large chest (qawsara)—all of them filled with hadith (1).”

People informed Ahmad, “Bishr has died.” He replied, “By Allah, he has died, and he has no peer except ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Qays, for ʿĀmir died leaving nothing behind.” Then Ahmad added, “If only he had married (2).”

Ibn Abī Dāwūd said: I said to ʿAlī ibn Khushram—after he told me that his audition and Bishr’s audition from ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus were identical—“Where, then, is the ḥadith of Umm Zarʿ?” He answered, “I have it in my notes. I had written to him, asking him to forward it to me, and he wrote back: ‘Have you mastered what you already possess before seeking what you do not possess?’”

ʿAlī then said, “Bishr was born in this very village. Early in life he behaved like a carefree youth, and he once received a wound (3).”

Ḥasan al-Musūḥī relates from Bishr: “I came to al-Muʿāfā’s door and knocked. Someone asked, ‘Who is it?’ I said, ‘Bishr the Barefoot.’ A young servant-girl remarked, ‘If you would buy a pair of sandals for two dāniqs, people would stop calling you ‘the Barefoot’ (4).’”

Al-Sulamī said: “Bishr came from a family of dignitaries, and he became a disciple of al-Fuḍayl…"