Al-Rabiʿ said: I also heard him remark, “What heaven would cover me and what earth would give me footing were I to transmit a hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and then not act upon it?” (1)

Abu Thawr likewise reported: “I heard him say, ‘Every hadith traced back to the Prophet ﷺ is my own position, even if you have not heard it directly from me.’” (2)

It is further related that he declared, “When the hadith is authentic, that is my school,” (3) and, “If a hadith is sound, then cast my opinion against the wall.”

Muhammad ibn Bishr al-ʿAkari and others narrated from al-Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman, who said: “Al-Shafiʿi had divided the night into three parts: during the first third he wrote, during the second he prayed, and during the third he slept.” (4)

I comment: All three of these activities were worship because of his intention.

Zakariyyah al-Saji said: Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil related to us; Husayn al-Karabisi told me: “I spent a night with al-Shafiʿi. He prayed for roughly one third of the night, and I never saw him recite more than fifty verses—at most one hundred. Whenever he came across a verse of mercy he would ask Allah for it, and when he reached a verse of punishment he would seek His protection. It was as though hope and fear had been perfectly joined within him.” (5)