About the life of the narrator


Name: Bishr ibn al-Harith ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Ata ibn Hilal ibn Mahan ibn Abdullah
Fame: Bishr al-Hafi
Kuniya: Abu Nasr
Lineage: al-Marwazi
Rank: Trustworthy
Lived in: Abbadan, Merv, Baghdad
Died in: Baghdad

عن حياة الراوي


الأسم: بشر بن الحارث بن عبد الرحمن بن عطاء بن هلال بن ماهان بن عبد الله
الشهرة: بشر الحافي
الكنيه: أبو نصر
النسب: المروزي
الرتبة: ثقة
عاش في: عبادان, مرو, بغداد
مات في: بغداد

Scholars Praise/criticism of the Narrator


Ahmad ibn Hanbal: I remember him with Amr ibn Abdullah, meaning ibn Abd Qays, and once: when he died, he said, may God have mercy on him and he has no equal in this nation except Amr ibn Abd Qays, for Amr died and left nothing and this one died and left nothing. Then he said, if he had married, his matter would have been complete.
Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn al-Jala': I saw Bishr ibn al-Harith and he had piety. It was said to him, to whom were you inclined? He said, Bishr ibn al-Harith is our teacher.
Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Harbi: From his horn to his foot he is filled with intellect, and al-Harbi did not narrate from him, and once: Baghdad did not bring forth a more complete intellect nor a more retentive tongue than Bishr ibn al-Harith. In every hair of his was intellect. He trod on the people's heels for fifty years, no backbiting of a Muslim was known from him. If his intellect were divided among the people of Baghdad, they would become intelligent, and nothing would be diminished from his intellect. And once: I did not see
Ibn Abi Hatim al-Razi: Trustworthy, pleasing
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani: Trustworthy, exemplary, pious, great
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi: He was among those who surpassed the people of his time in piety and asceticism. He was distinguished by the abundance of his intellect, the various virtues, the good approach, the uprightness of his doctrine, the nobility of his soul, and the abandonment of trivialities. He was a great narrator of hadith, but he did not devote himself to narration and hated it, and he buried his books for that reason, and all that is heard from him is only by way of reminder.
Al-Daraqutni: Trustworthy, ascetic, a mountain, he only narrates sound hadith, and sometimes the calamity is from those who narrate from him.
Ali ibn Khushram al-Marwazi: Bishr used to give fatwas in his early days and he was wounded.
Muslim ibn al-Qasim al-Andalusi: Trustworthy, excellent
Yahya ibn Aktham al-Qadi: We have not heard anything about Amr ibn Abd Qays except that there is something like it or more in Bishr ibn al-Harith, unless there was something in the heart of Amr that was not in the heart of Bishr.

مدح/انتقاد العلماء للراوي


أحمد بن حنبل: إني لأذكر به عامر بن عبد الله يعني بن عبد قيس، ومرة: لما مات قال رحمه الله وماله نظير في هذه الأمة إلا عامر بن عبد قيس فإن عامرا مات ولم يترك شيئا وهذا قد مات ولم يترك شيئا ثم قال لو تزوج كان قد تم أمره
أحمد بن يحيى بن الجلاء: رأيت بشر بن الحارث وكان له الورع فقيل له إلى من كنت تميل فقال بشر بن الحارث أستاذنا
إبراهيم بن إسحاق الحربي: من قرنه إلى قدمه مملوءا عقلا ولم يحدث عنه الحربي، ومرة: ما أخرجت بغداد أتم عقلا ولا أحفظ للسانه من بشر بن الحارث كان في كل شعرة منه عقل وطىء الناس عقبه خمسين سنة ما عرف له غيبة لمسلم لو قسم عقله على أهل بغداد صاروا عقلاء وما نقص من عقله شيء، ومرة: ما رأيت
ابن أبي حاتم الرازي: ثقة رضي
ابن حجر العسقلاني: ثقة قدوة زاهد جليل
الخطيب البغدادي: كان ممن فاق أهل عصره في الورع والزهد تفرد بوفور العقل وأنواع الفضل وحسن الطريقة واستقامة المذهب وعزوف النفس واسقاط الفضول وكان كثير الحديث إلا أنه لم ينصب نفسه للرواية وكان يكرهها ودفن كتبه لأجل ذلك وكل ماسمع منه فانما هو على سبيل المذاكرة
الدارقطني: ثقة زاهد جبل ليس يروي إلا حديثا صحيحا وربما تكون البلية ممن يروي عنه
علي بن خشرم المروزي: كان بشر يتفتي في أول أمره وقد جرح
مسلمة بن القاسم الأندلسي: ثقة فاضل
يحيى بن أكثم القاضي: ما بلغنا عن عامر بن عبد قيس شيء إلا وفي بشر بن الحارث مثله أو أكثر منه إلا أن يكون كان في قلب عامر شيء لم يكن في قلب بشر مثله