كان إمامنا أحمد — رضي الله عنه — لا يرى تأليف الكتب.

Our exemplar Aḥmad—God be pleased with him—did not believe in writing books.

هُوَ نَهَى أَحَدًا أَنْ يَكْتُبَ مَا قَالَهُ، أَوْ أَنْ يُسَجِّلَ أَجْوِبَتَهُ عَنِ الْمَسَائِلِ الْفِقْهِيَّةِ.١٦٣ فَلَوْ كَانَ يَرَى خِلَافَ ذَلِكَ، لَأَنْشَأَ كَثِيرًا مِنَ الْمُصَنَّفَاتِ، وَلَكَانَ لَهُ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ الْكِتَابَاتِ تُنْسَبُ إِلَيْهِ. وَعَلَيْهِ فَإِنَّ مُؤَلَّفَاتِهِ هِيَ مَجْمُوعَاتٌ مِنْ أَحَادِيثَ، مِثْلُ «الْأَخْبَارِ الْمُوثَّقَةِ الْمُرَتَّبَةِ عَلَى الرُّوَاةِ»، الَّذِي يَحْتَوِي عَلَى ثَلَاثِينَ أَلْفَ خَبَرٍ.١٦٤ وَكَانَ يَقُولُ لِابْنِهِ عَبْدِ اللهِ: «احْفَظْ هَذَا الْكِتَابَ الْمُوثَّقَ جَيِّدًا، فَإِنَّ النَّاسَ سَيَحْتَاجُونَ إِلَيْهِ». وَصَنَّفَ أَيْضًا «تَفْسِيرَ الْقُرْآنِ»، الَّذِي يَحْتَوِي عَلَى ١٢٠٫٠٠٠ خَبَرٍ،١٦٥ وَ«النَّاسِخَ وَالْمَنْسُوخَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ»،١٦٦ وَ«تَوْقِيتَ التَّارِيخِ»،١٦٧ وَ«أَحَادِيثَ رَوَاهَا شُعْبَةُ»،168

He forbade anyone to write down what he said or to record his replies to legal questions.163 Had he believed otherwise, he would have generated many compilations and had many had many writings to his credit. His works are therefore compilations of Hadith reports, such as the Authenticated Reports Listed by Transmitter, which contains thirty thousand reports.164 He used to tell his son ʿAbd Allāh: “Take good care of that Authenticated Reports because people will need it.” He also compiled the Interpretation of the Qurʾan, which contains 120,000 reports,165 The Abrogating and Abrogated Verses of the Qurʾan,166 Fixing of Dates,167 Hadith Reports Transmitted by Shuʿbah,168

المُقَدَّمُ وَالمُؤَخَّرُ فِي القُرْآنِ، أَجْوِبَةٌ عَنِ القُرْآنِ، كِتَابُ المَنَاسِكِ الكَبِيرِ، كِتَابُ المَنَاسِكِ الصَّغِيرِ، وَعَنَاوِينُ أُخْرَى۔ 169 271

Transposed Elements in the Qurʾan, Answers Regarding the Qurʾan, The Greater Book on Pilgrimage Rites, The Lesser Book on Pilgrimage Rites, and other titles.169 27.1

مع أن أحمد لم يُجِز لأحد أن يكتب ما يقوله، فقد أذن الله له مع ذلك أن يحقق مقاصده الحسنة، إذ كفل نقل كلماته وحفظها. وقلّما توجد مسألة لم يُنقل عنه فيها قولٌ ذو صلة، سواء في أصول الفقه أو في الأحكام الجزئية. وفي كثير من الحالات حُفظت آراؤه، في حين ضاعت أعمال فقهاء كتبوا ودوّنوا الوثائق الكثيرة. 272

Although Aḥmad did not allow anyone to write down what he said, God nevertheless allowed him to fulfill his benevolent intentions by ensuring that his words were transmitted and preserved. Few indeed are the questions where he has not contributed a relevant text, whether on the principles of jurisprudence or on specific points of law. In many cases, his contribution has been preserved, whereas the work of jurists who did write and amass documents has been lost. 27.2

[حنبل بن إسحاق:] جمعنا أحمد بن حنبل—أنا وصالح وعبد الله—وقرأ علينا مسنده. ولم يسمعه منه غيرنا. فقال لنا: «هذا كتاب جمعته من أكثر من سبعمائة وخمسين ألف حديث. فإذا وجدتم المسلمين مختلفين في حديث عن الرسول ﷺ، فارجعوا إليه؛ فإن كان فيه وإلا فليس بحجة». 27.3

[Ḥanbal ibn Isḥāq:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal gathered us together—me, Ṣāliḥ, and ʿAbd Allāh—and read his Authenticated Reports to us. We are the only ones to have heard it from him. He told us, “This is a book I put together by sorting through more than 750,000 reports. Whenever you find Muslims disagreeing about a Hadith of the Emissary, check to see if the report is in here. If it’s not, it’s doesn’t count.” 27.3