الوراق: القدحُ في أصحاب أحمد قدحٌ في أحمد نفسه، ومن فعل ذلك فلا بدّ أن في صدره غِلاًّ ما، وليس بسنيّ. 99.1

[Al-Warrāq:] To criticize Aḥmad’s associates is to attack Aḥmad himself. Anyone who does that must be harboring a grudge of some kind and is no Sunni. 99.1

[الأثرم:] كان أصحاب أحمد بن حنبل يتركون أحيانًا أمورًا لا أثر لها عند الله، حتى لا يُثيروا نقدًا لأحمد. 99.2

[Al-Athram:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s associates sometimes decide to give up matters that have no consequence as far as God is concerned in order to avoid provoking any criticism of Aḥmad. 99.2

أبو الفضل: سمعتُ أنه بعد وفاة أحمد ذكر أحدُهم للمتوكل أنه يُخشى أن تنشب فتنةٌ بين أنصاره وأهل البدع. 99.3

[Abū l-Faḍl:] I heard that after Aḥmad’s death, someone mentioned to al- Mutawakkil that unpleasantness was liable to break out between his partisans and the innovators. 99.3

قال المتوكل للمُخبر: «لا تُخبرني عنهم بشيءٍ بعد ذلك».

“Don’t tell me anything more about them,” al-Mutawakkil told the informant.

لكن انصرهم بدلاً من ذلك. أحمد وقومه هم سادة أمة محمد ﷺ. والله يعلم جيداً المحنة التي تحمّلها أحمد، إذ رفعه إلى المجد في حياته وبعد مماته؛ وأنصاره هم خير ما يتمناه. وإني لأرجو أن يعطي الله أحمد الأجر الذي يعطيه للصادقين. قال المرُّوذي: قال ابن صُحت، وكان صهراً لابن حُباب الجوهري: رأيت في المنام قوماً، وإذا برجلٍ في ثيابٍ بيضاء يقول: "قد غفر الله لأحمد بن حنبل ولكل من ذبّ عنه." (99)4

“Instead, take their side. Aḥmad and his people are the lords of Muḥammad’s community. God knows well enough the ordeal Aḥmad suffered, since He raised him to fame during his life and after his death; and his partisans are the best he could wish for. I daresay that God will give Aḥmad the reward He gives to the truth-tellers.” [Al-Marrūdhī:] Ibn Suḥt, who was Ibn Ḥubāb al-Jawharī’s relation by marriage, said, “I dreamed I saw some people, and a man in white saying, ‘God has forgiven Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and all who defend him.’” 99.4

أبو القاسم: 995

[Abū l-Qāsim:] I heard a righteous man relate that one of his fellows appeared in a dream and was asked how God had judged him. 99.5

قال: «لقد غفر لي».

“He forgave me,” was the reply.

«فَمَنْ أَكْثَرُ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ؟» «أَصْحَابُ الشَّافِعِيِّ». «فَمَا بَالُ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ حَنْبَلٍ؟» «إِنَّمَا سَأَلْتَنِي عَنْ أَكْثَرِهِمْ لَا عَنْ أَعْلَاهُمْ. فَالشَّافِعِيُّ أَكْثَرُ عَدَدًا، وَأَصْحَابُ أَحْمَدَ أَعْلَى دَرَجَةً». [الْحِمِّانِيُّ:] رَأَيْتُ فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي جَالِسٌ تَحْتَ رِوَاقٍ فِي بَيْتِي إِذْ ظَهَرَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ، فَوَقَفَ فِي الْبَابِ وَوَضَعَ يَدَيْهِ عَلَى الْقَائِمَتَيْنِ، ثُمَّ أَذَّنَ وَأَعْلَنَ أَنَّ الصَّلَاةَ قَدْ قَامَتْ. ثُمَّ قَالَ ﷺ: «النَّاجُونَ نَاجُونَ، وَالْهَالِكُونَ هَالِكُونَ». [99]6

“So who are the majority of people in the Garden?” “Followers of al-Shāfiʿī.” “What about Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?” “You asked me who the majority were, not who the highest ones were. Al-Shāfiʿī has the greater number, but Aḥmad’s people have the higher rank.” [Al-Ḥimmānī:] I dreamed I was sitting under a portico at home when the Prophet appeared. He stood in the doorway with his hands resting on the jamb, issued the call to prayer, and announced that prayer had begun. Then he said, “The saved are saved and the damned damned.” 99.6

"يا رسولَ الله، مَن الناجون؟" سألتُ. قال: «أحمدُ بن حنبلٍ وأصحابُه». [الحربي:] رأيتُ في المنام أني في جماعةٍ وكنا محبوسين رغماً عنا، وكنتُ غيرَ راضٍ عن ذلك. ثم سألني صوتٌ: «ما أنتَ؟» 99.7

“Emissary of God,” I asked, “who are the saved?” “Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and his followers.” [Al-Ḥarbī:] I dreamed I was in a group and we were being held against our will and I was unhappy about it. Then a voice asked, “What are you?” 99.7

قلتُ: «أتباعُ ابنِ حنبل». فقيل: «اذهب، فالحنبليّةُ لا يُحصرون». ثم كأنّ هاتفًا يقول: «ما من متمذهبٍ بمذهبِ الحنبليّ حُوسب على ذنوبه قط». وكان ابنُ عقيلٍ - رحمه الله - يقول: 99.8

I said, “Followers of Ibn Ḥanbal.” “Go, then; Ḥanbalīs aren’t to be confined.” Then it felt as if a voice said, “No adherent of the Ḥanbalī school has ever been held accountable for his sins.” Ibn ʿAqīl—God have mercy on him!—used to say: 99.8

المشكلة في مدرستنا هي أعضاؤها أنفسهم. فإذا برع حنفيٌّ أو شافعيٌّ في دراسته، عُيّن في منصب قضائيٍّ أو غيره، فيتفرّغ بسبب تعيينه للتدريس والبحث. أما أتباع أحمد، فبالكاد يدرسون شيئًا دون أن يقرروا التفرغ للعبادات والزهد في الدنيا، نظرًا لما تتسم به الجماعة عادةً من ورع وتقوى. ونتيجةً لذلك يكفّون عن أن يكونوا علماء.

“The problem with our school is our own members. If a Ḥanafī or a Shāfiʿī excels in his studies, he’s appointed to a judgeship or some other position and as a result of his appointment can devote himself to teaching and research. Aḥmad’s people, on the other hand, can hardly study anything without deciding to devote themselves to pious exercises and renounce the world, given how godly the group tends to be. As a result, they stop being scholars.”