While discussing the virtues of 'Uthman in his expansive book of history, ibn Kathir mentioned the following: ‎[وقال سفيان بن عيينة: ثنا إسرائيل بن موسى، سمعت الحسن يقول: قال عثمان: لو أن قلوبنا طهرت ما شبعنا من كلام ربنا، وإني لأكره أن يأتي علي يوم لا أنظر في المصحف. وما مات عثمان حتى خرق مصحفه من كثرة ما يديم النظر فيه. ] Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah relayed from Israa'eel ibn Moosaa who heard al-Hasan say: 'Uthman said, "If our hearts were pure, we could never get our fill of the Speech of our Lord. And as for me, I hate to let a day go by without reading from the mushaf." And by the time 'Uthman died, his mushaf had become torn from how often he used to read from it. [al-Bidayah w'al-Nihayah 7/214]