Nearby localities include Maliha al-Atash to the southeast, al-Shaykh Maskin to the east, Izra to the northeast, Harran to the northwest, Najran to the west, al-Mazraa to the southwest and Nahitah to the south.

[2] Busra al-Harir has been identified with the city of Bosor, mentioned in 1 Maccabees (2nd century BC), where Gilead was captured by Judas Maccabeus.

[9] The Haririyya, a highly pantheist sect of the Rifa'iyya Sufi order, was founded in Busr in 1247 by its namesake Ali ibn Abi'l Hasan al-Hariri al-Marwazi.

At that time it had an entirely Muslim population of 42 households and 31 bachelors, who paid fixed tax rate of 40% various agricultural products, such as wheat, barley, summer crops, goats and/or beehives; a total of 17,000 akçe.

[14] By 1885 the Ottoman government set up Busra al-Harir as one of 42 stations on the telegraph grid which extended from Aleppo in the north to Gaza in the south.

[15] In 1892 Osman Nuri Pasha, the Ottoman governor of Damascus, demanded the completion of land registration in Busra al-Harir in attempt to extend central government control over the outlier Hauran and Transjordan regions.

[16] In May 1909 a dispute between the chief of Jabal al-Druze, Yahya "Bey" Atrash, and his business partner in a steam mill in Busra al-Harir led to armed clashes between the Druze and the town's residents.

The latter were supported by the Ottoman government which prepared a large army headed by Sami Pasha Faruqi to put down the Druze revolt in August 1910.

[19] According to opposition activists, two people were killed and dozens were injured after Busra al-Harir was shelled by Syrian Army tanks in April 2012.