Mālik ibn Mighwal reported from al-Shaʿbī: “I had not wept for ages, but when he died I wept for him.” (1)

Mujālid—and others—narrated that a simple-minded man met al-Shaʿbī while a woman was walking beside him. The man asked, “Which of you two is al-Shaʿbī?” He replied, “She is.” (2)

ʿĀmir ibn Yasāf (3) said: Al-Shaʿbī once said to me, “Come on; let us run away from the hadith transmitters.” So we went out. On the way an elderly man passed by, and al-Shaʿbī asked him, “What is your trade?” He answered, “I mend torn things.” Al-Shaʿbī said, “We have a broken cask—could you stitch it for us?” The man replied, “If you will furnish me with a thread made of sand, I will patch it.” Al-Shaʿbī laughed until he reclined on his back. (4)

ʿAtāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib narrated from al-Shaʿbī that he said, “No nation, after the passing of its prophet, ever differed among itself without the people of falsehood prevailing over the people of truth.” (5)

ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād reported—from al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—who said: “I saw al-Shaʿbī greet a Christian, saying, ‘Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah.’ When he was criticized for that, he replied, ‘But is the mercy of Allah not vast enough? Were it not so, he would have perished.’” (6)

Mujālid narrated from al-Shaʿbī that he said, “May Allah curse the question, ‘What do you think?’” (7)

Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī said that al-Shaʿbī remarked: “Tell me—if al-Aḥnaf were killed and, alongside him, a small boy were killed, would their blood money be equal, or would al-Aḥnaf receive more because of his intellect and forbearance?” I answered, “Rather, it would be equal.” He said, “Then analogy is worthless.” (7)