The Life Of Ibn Hanbal by Ibn Al-Jawzi

[ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī:] When I saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s house, all I could think of was how much it resembled Suwayd ibn Ghafalah’s, which was said to be very humble and sparsely furnished. 45.1

[The author:] Suwayd ibn Ghafalah was one of the great Successors. He set out on behalf of his tribe to see the Emissary of God, who died before his arrival. He became a companion of Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī. He was a great renouncer of the world.

[ʿImrān ibn Muslim:] Whenever Suwayd ibn Ghafalah heard it said that So-and-So had received a sum, or So-and-So had been appointed to an office, he remarked, “A crust and a bit of salt are enough for me.” 45.2

[Al-Maymūnī:] Aḥmad’s house was small and cramped. Even in the heat he would sleep downstairs. His uncle told me that he was always telling him to sleep upstairs but he wouldn’t.243 I saw where he slept, too. All he had was a quilt244 and a dirty mattress.245 45.3

[Ḥasan ibn Sayyār:] When I was an apprentice, I went with my master to plaster a room for Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Aḥmad told him to plaster it by hand, not with a trowel.

We also tiled the floor. When we were finished, he looked pleased and said, “That’s good and clean. A man can pray on that.” 45.4

There were no mats or floor coverings in the room.

He gave me a handful of dates.

[Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥārith:] I once went into Aḥmad’s house. In the open space inside, I saw a threadbare mat and a leather cushion, with his books and papers scattered all around it. There was also a clay water jug. 45.5

[Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd:] Aḥmad had an arched doorway inside his house. I noticed he had hung a hair-cloth across the entrance.246 45.6

[Abū Dāwūd:] I noticed that the door of Aḥmad’s house had a matted, threadbare cloth hanging across it. Nearby I saw something like the stands that travelers use, with several jars on it. 45.7

[Muḥammad ibn Mūsā:] Aḥmad had a big doorway made of brick. When I saw it some time later, he had stretched a curtain of hair-cloth across it. 45.8

[Al-Zuhrī:] Aḥmad once said, as he led me into his house, “See this doorway of mine? I went into debt to build it.”247 45.9

[Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan:] More than once I found Aḥmad sitting cross-legged on a small piece of felt cloth he owned, in front of a three-legged coal-pan248 made of clay, with embers in it. 45.10