It is reported that Imām Al-Shāfi’ī – Allāh have mercy on him – said:

When I see a man from the Adherents of Ḥadīth, it is as if I have seen the Prophet – Allāh’s peace and blessings be upon him – alive.

Al-Khaṭīb Al-Baghdādī, Sharaf Ashāb Al-Ḥadīth article 85.