I asked Jabir bin Samura, "Did you used to sit with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?"He replied, "Yes. He was long in silence and seldom laughed. His companions would recite poetry in his presence and mention matters from their affairs, and they would laugh, while he would only smile at times."
قلت لجابر بن سمرة أكنت تجالس رسول الله ﷺ؟ قال: نعم، وكان طويل الصمت، قليل الضحك، وكان أصحابه يذكرون عنده الشعر، وأشياء من أمورهم، فيضحكون وربما تبسم.
Ahmad (20810) narrated it, and this is his wording, as did Tirmidhi (2850), and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (5781). All of them narrated it through a chain from Sharik, from Simak bin Harb, who said, then he mentioned it.Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith, and Zuhayr also narrated it from Simak."I say, its chain is hasan because of Sharik, for he had a weak memory, but he was corroborated in the essential part of the hadith, as mentioned earlier, and this is what Tirmidhi was pointing to in his statement.Bukhari narrated it in the Book of the Prayer for Rain (1008), with his chain, from Abdullah bin Dinar, who said, I heard Ibn Umar reciting a line of poetry by Abu Talib,"A fair-faced one through whose face rain is sought, a shelter for orphans, a protection for widows."