Al-Rabiʿ ibn Sulaymān reported—through two, indeed through several, separate chains—that al-Shāfiʿī used to complete the Qur’an sixty times during the month of Ramadan.
Ibn Abī Ḥātim also transmitted this from him, adding, “All of that was accomplished while he was in prayer.” (1)

Abū ʿAwānah al-Isfarāyīnī said: Al-Rabiʿ narrated to us, “I heard al-Shāfiʿī say, ‘I have not eaten to my fill in the last sixteen years except once, and on that occasion I put my hand down my throat and vomited the food back up.’”
Ibn Abī Ḥātim related the same report from al-Rabiʿ with the addition: “For satiation weighs the body down, hardens the heart, dulls the intellect, brings on sleep, and weakens one for worship.” (2)

Al-Zubayr ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid said: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim ibn Maṭar told us, “I heard al-Rabiʿ say: al-Shāfiʿī said to me, ‘Hold fast to zuhd (renunciation), for zuhd adorns the renunciant more beautifully than jewelry adorns a young bride.’” (3)

Al-Zubayr also said: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṣūfī narrated to me, “I heard Ḥarmalah say, ‘I heard al-Shāfiʿī declare, “I have never sworn by Allah—neither truthfully nor falsely.”’” (4)

Abū Dāwūd said: Abū Thawr narrated to me, “So generous was al-Shāfiʿī that he could scarcely hold on to anything for himself.” (5)