Ibrāhīm ibn Barānah related: “Al-Shāfiʿī was stout, tall, and of distinguished presence.” (1)

Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam said: “Al-Shāfiʿī was the most generous of people with whatever he possessed. He would pass by our place, and if he found me there he would stay; otherwise he would say, ‘Tell Muḥammad, when he arrives, to come to the house, for I will not eat lunch until he gets here.’” (2)

Dāwūd ibn ʿAlī al-Aṣbahānī reported: Abū Thawr told us: “Al-Shāfiʿī was among the most open-handed of men. He would buy a skilled bondswoman who could cook and prepare desserts, but he himself would stipulate that he would not approach her, for he was ill and, on account of the hemorrhoids he then suffered, unable to be intimate with women. He would say to us, ‘Ask for whatever food you desire.’” (3)

Abū ʿAlī ibn Ḥamkān (4) said: Abū Isḥāq al-Muzakkī narrated to me, Ibn Khuzaymah narrated to us, al-Rabīʿ said: “Mālik’s companions used to boast, saying, ‘Around sixty turbaned scholars attend Mālik’s circle.’ By Allah, I counted in al-Shāfiʿī’s session three hundred men wearing turbans, not counting those I missed.” (5)

Al-Rabīʿ said: “I purchased perfume for al-Shāfiʿī for one dinar. He asked, ‘From whom did you buy it?’ I replied, ‘From that blond, blue-eyed man.’ He said, ‘Blond and blue-eyed? Take it back, take it back! Never has any good come to me from a blond.’” (6)