I say: His father set out with him in the year 196 AH, when the boy was just about to reach puberty.

Ibrahim ibn Abi Talib related: I heard ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Bishr say, “My father hoisted me onto his shoulders in the gathering of Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah and announced, ‘People of hadith! I am Bishr ibn al-Hakam. My own father heard from Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah, I myself heard from him and have narrated on his authority in Khurasan (1), and this son of mine has now heard from him as well (2).’”

ʿAbd al-Rahman said, “I reached puberty in Yemen while accompanying my father.”

I add: The last person on earth to report from ʿAbd al-Rahman was Muhammad ibn ʿAli al-Mudhakkir, one of al-Hakim’s teachers; he is weak (3).

We have heard ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Bishr’s higher-chain narrations through Zahir al-Shahhami.

Abu Hamid ibn al-Sharqi recounted: I heard ʿAbd al-Rahman say, “When I came of age, my father invited ʿAbd al-Razzaq and the visiting hadith scholars. After they had finished their meal he declared, ‘Bear witness that my son has reached puberty. There he is, listening to ʿAbd al-Razzaq, and he has already listened to Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah.’”

I comment: Such a public announcement was really a rebuke and an embarrassment for the boy.

It is narrated that the governor ʿAbd Allah ibn Tahir said, “There is no man in Khurasan of sounder judgment than ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Bishr.”

Musaddad ibn Qatan reported: “When Muhammad ibn Yahya died, Muslim convened a teaching session for my maternal uncle ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Bishr. Ahmad ibn Salamah used to attend and would select hadiths for him…”