If you had seen al-Shafiʿi—his lucid exposition and effortless eloquence—you would have been astonished. Had he composed these books in the classical Arabic he employed when debating with us, we would never have been able to read them, so powerful was his style and so unusual his vocabulary. Yet in his writings he would always make matters clear for ordinary readers. (1)

Harmalah reported: I heard al-Shafiʿi say, “People became ignorant and fell into disagreement only because they abandoned the Arabs’ language and inclined instead toward the language of Aristotle.”

This anecdote is useful, but it is irregular; I do not believe the Imam ever uttered it, nor had Aristotle’s works yet been translated into Arabic at all.

It was narrated by Abu al-Hasan ʿAli ibn Mahdi the jurist, who said: Muhammad ibn Harun related to us; Humaym ibn Hammam related to us; Harmalah related to us.

Ibn Harun is unknown.

Musʿab ibn ʿAbd Allah said, “I have never seen anyone more knowledgeable about the chronicles of people’s days than al-Shafiʿi.” (2)

Imam Ibn Surayj transmitted from certain genealogists that al-Shafiʿi was among the most learned of people in genealogy. They spent one night with him while he discussed with them the lineages of women until daybreak, remarking, “The lineages of men are known to everyone.” (3)

Al-Hasan ibn Rashiq narrated to us from Ahmad ibn ʿAli al-Madaʾini, who said: al-Muzani recounted, “Al-Shafiʿi arrived among us, and Ibn Hisham—the author of al-Maghazi—came to him and reviewed with him the genealogies of men. Al-Shafiʿi said to him, ‘Leave aside the genealogies of men, for they do not…’”