It was reported by several authorities that, in the first phase of his life, he was a shāṭir (1)—a street rogue—and that the cause of his repentance was this: he once found a scrap of paper bearing the name of Allah—exalted is He—in the furnace of a public bath. He picked it up, lifted his gaze toward the sky, and exclaimed, “My Lord! Your name lies here discarded!” He then went to a perfumer, bought for one dirham some ghāliyah (2)—a costly fragrance—anointed the scrap with it, and placed it where no one could reach it. Allah revived his heart, guided him to right conduct, and set him upon the path of worship and renunciation for which he later became famed (3).

Among his sayings was: “Whoever loves this world should prepare himself for humiliation.” He would eat bread by itself. When asked, “What do you take with it as a relish?” he replied, “I recall the blessing of good health and make that my condiment.”

He never wore sandals, but walked barefoot. One day he knocked at a door. When someone inside asked, “Who is it?” he answered, “Bishr the Barefoot.” A maidservant said, “Could he not find even two dāniqs (4) to buy himself a pair of sandals and rid himself of that name?”

They further relate that the reason he gave up footwear was that he once went to a cobbler and asked for a shiraq (5)—a leather strap—for his sandal. The cobbler retorted, “How much trouble (6) you people put others to!” Bishr immediately threw the sandal from his hand, took off the other from his foot, and swore he would never wear sandals again (7).

Ibn Khallikān (8) states that he died on the day of ʿĀshūrāʾ; others say he died in Ramaḍān in Baghdad, and still others that his death was in Marw. I say: the soundest view is that he died in Baghdad in this very year, though some place it in 226; the first view is more correct, and Allah knows best.

When he died, the people of Baghdad—every last one of them (9)—gathered for his funeral. He was brought out after the dawn prayer and was not laid in his grave until after nightfall. ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī and other leading hadith scholars kept crying out in the procession, “By Allah, this is the honor of this world before the honor of the Hereafter!” (10)

It is related that the jinn lamented him in the house where he had lived. Someone also saw him in a dream and asked, “What has Allah done with you?” He replied, “He has forgiven me, everyone who attended my funeral, and everyone who loves me—until the Day of Resurrection.” (11)