The Life Of Ibn Hanbal by Ibn Al-Jawzi

[Isḥāq ibn Rāhawayh:] When Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal made the journey to study with ʿAbd al-Razzāq, he ran out of money, so he hired himself out to a camel driver for the duration of the journey to Sanaa. His companions had offered help, but he refused to accept anything from anyone. 41.1

[ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd:] ʿAbd al-Razzāq told us: “Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal came and stayed here for almost two years. At one point I said to him, ‘Aḥmad, there’s no way for you to make any money in this part of the world, so take this’”—and here ʿAbd al-Razzāq put out a handful of dinars to show us what he meant—“‘and spend it on yourself!’ But Aḥmad said, ‘I’m fine,’ and refused to accept anything from me.” 41.2

[Al-Wāsiṭī:] I heard that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, as he was leaving Yemen, pawned his sandals to a baker in exchange for some food. He also hired himself out to some camel drivers when he left. ʿAbd al-Razzāq offered him some perfectly good dirhams,212 but he wouldn’t take them. 41.3

[Al-Ramādī:] Once, in the village where ʿAbd al-Razzāq lived, we mentioned Ibn Ḥanbal, and Baḥr the greengrocer said, “Whatever happened to him?” 41.4

“How do you know who Aḥmad is?” I asked him.

“He was living here for a while,” said the grocer. “When his friends left, he stayed behind. He came to me and said, ‘Baḥr, I owe you a dirham, so take these sandals. I’ll try to send you the money from Sanaa, but if I can’t, sandals are worth a dirham.213

Agreed?’ “I said yes and he left. Later I told ʿAbd al-Razzāq’s nephew Hammām and he said, ‘Why on earth did you let him give you the sandals?’” [Al-Ramādī:] I once heard ʿAbd al-Razzāq, tears in his eyes, say of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal: “He came to me one day and said that his money had run out. I found ten dinars and took him aside—behind closed doors, with no one else there—and said, ‘I don’t save money, but I did find these ten dinars in the women’s quarters, so take them and make them last until I can find something more.’ He smiled and said, ‘Abū Bakr, if I were going to accept help from anyone, it would be you.’ But he wouldn’t take it.” 41.5

[The author:] The two versions of the report are largely the same.

[ʿAbd Allāh:] My father told me, “Yazīd ibn Hārūn once offered me five hundred dirhams—more or less—but I didn’t take it. He also offered money to Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn and Abū Muslim al-Mustamlī, and they did.” 41.6

[Al-Wāsiṭī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and several others came to study with me, but their money ran out. I offered them money and they took it, except for Aḥmad, who came to me with a fur and said, “Ask someone to sell this for me. That will give me enough to live on.” 41.7

I bundled up some dirhams and offered them to him, but he refused to take anything. My wife said, “He’s a righteous man. Maybe it wasn’t enough. Give him twice that.” So I doubled the amount but he still wouldn’t take it. Finally he took his fur and left.

[Ibrāhīm ibn Ḥassān:] I heard this story from a man who had known Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal in Wāsiṭ, where they were students at the door of Yazīd ibn Hārūn. Aḥmad came to him with a cloak he wanted to sell even though it was the coldest time of year.

“It took a while, but I persuaded him not to sell it. Then I went to Yazīd and said, ‘Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal just asked me to sell off his cloak—in this weather!’ 41.8

“Yazīd told his servant to weigh out a hundred dirhams and bring them in. Then he gave the money to me and told me to pass it on Aḥmad. So I brought him the money and said, ‘This is for you, from Yazīd.’ “‘I do need it,’ he said, ‘and I am on a journey. But I don’t want to get used to accepting help. Take it back!’ “So I took it back. Then he gave me his cloak and I sold it.” [Ṣāliḥ:] One day Ḥusn214 came to me and said, “A man just came and left a basket of dried fruit and a note.” 41.9

I read the note, which said:

Aḥmad, I sold some merchandise in Samarqand worth such-and-such on your behalf and made a profit of such-and-such. Herewith are four thousand dirhams, which I’m sending to you along with some fruit I picked from my orchard, which belonged to my father and grandfather before me.

When he came home, I gathered the boys and went in to see him. “Dad,” I said, “doesn’t it hurt you to see me live on charity?” Putting the children in front of him, I wept.

“How did you find out?” he asked. Then he said, “Leave it be for now. Tonight I’ll ask God what to do.” The next day, he said, “Ṣāliḥ, don’t tell anyone about this. I asked God and He told me not to accept.” He opened the basket and gave the fruit to the children. Then he sent the money back, along with a ten-cubit robe he had. Later I heard that the man set the robe aside to use as a shroud.

[ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm:] A neighbor of ours once showed us a document and asked if we recognized the handwriting. 41.10

“Yes,” we said, “it’s Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s. But why did he write this for you?” “We were staying with Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah in Mecca,” said the neighbor. “Aḥmad disappeared for a few days so we went to look for him. The people at the house where he was staying pointed out his room. We found the door ajar and saw that he was there, but dressed in rags.

“‘Aḥmad,’ we asked, ‘what’s going on? We haven’t seen you in days.’ “‘Someone stole my clothes.’ “‘I have some dinars with me,’ I said. ‘Take it as a loan or a gift, whichever you prefer.’ “He refused to take the money, so I asked him if he would copy reports for a fee.

He said he would, so I offered him a dinar, but he wouldn’t take it.

“‘Buy me a robe,’ he said, ‘and cut it in half,’ gesturing to show that he meant to wear half of it as a breechclout and the other half as a shirt. ‘And bring me the change,’ he said.

“I did as he asked. Then I brought him some paper and he copied some texts for me, and here they are in his writing.” [Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Shāhīn:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥammād al-Muqriʾ say that ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm once saw one of his neighbors carrying a document in Aḥmad’s handwriting. He asked him where he had found Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s notebook. 41.11

“So you know his writing?” asked the man.

“I do.” “Well, this isn’t Aḥmad’s notebook,” said the neighbor. “It’s my notebook in his writing.” “How did that happen?” “One year,” said the man, “we were studying with Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah. We were the only two from our neighborhood studying with him that year. Aḥmad disappeared for a few days and I went to go look for him. I followed people’s directions until I ended up at a sort of cave in Jiyād with a lattice blocking the entrance.

“‘Peace be upon you!’ I called out.

“‘And you,’ came the reply.

“‘May I come in?’ “‘No,’ he answered. A moment later he said, ‘Now you may.’ “I went in and found him wrapped in a ragged piece of felt.

“‘Why did you keep me waiting?’ I asked.

“‘So I could cover myself.’ “‘What happened to you?’ “‘Someone stole my clothes.’ “I rushed home and brought back a hundred dirhams wrapped in a piece of cloth. I offered it to him but he refused to take it. I told him he could pay me back, but he still refused. I tried offering him less, going all the way down to twenty, but it was no use.

Finally I turned to go, saying, ‘It’s wrong for you to kill yourself when I’m here offering to help you!’ “‘Come back,’ he said.

“I turned back. He said, ‘Didn’t Ibn ʿUyaynah teach both of us a lot of Hadith reports?’ “‘Of course.’ “‘What if I copy them out for you?’ “‘All right,’ I said.

“‘Buy some paper,’ he said, ‘and bring it here.’ “He wrote so many dirhams’ worth (the man mentioned the amount). He spent twelve dirhams on two garments and kept the rest for expenses.” [Ismāʿīl ibn Abī l-Ḥārith:] We used to live near an elderly man from Marv. One day Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal went in to see him and then came out again and left. 41.12

“Why did Aḥmad come to see you?” I asked him.

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“He’s a friend,” answered the old man. “We’ve known each other for a long time.” He kept on evading the question but we pestered him until he broke down.

“He had borrowed two or three hundred dirhams from me,” he said, “and he came here to repay it. I told him I never intended for him to pay me back, but he said that he never intended not to.” [Ṣāliḥ:] In the days of al-Wāthiq, when we were living in conditions best left to the imagination, I went into my father’s room while he was away at afternoon prayers. He had a piece of felt that he used to sit on, so old that it was almost worn through. Under the felt I noticed a piece of paper with writing on it. It said: 41.13

Aḥmad, we have learned that you are poor and in debt. We have sent So-and-So with four thousand dirhams to pay off your debt and take care of your family. This is neither charity nor alms-tax: it is an inheritance from my father.

I read the note and put it back. When my father came in I said, “Dad, what’s this note?” He blushed. “I was hoping you wouldn’t see it.” Then he said, “Deliver this reply.” He wrote:

We have received your letter in good health. The debt is owed to a man who will not press us, and the family enjoys the bounty of God, thanks be to Him.

I took this reply to the man who had delivered the original note. “What a shame!” he said. “Even if Aḥmad had accepted the gift and then thrown it into the Tigris, it would have been a good deed: this man never does anything for anybody.” Some time later, we received another letter saying the same thing. My father answered it as he had the first.

About a year later the subject came up, and my father said, “See? If we’d taken the money, it’d be gone by now.” [Ibn Abī Ḥātim:] I heard Aḥmad’s son Ṣāliḥ report the very same story, except without the part where he says, “Even if Aḥmad had accepted the gift and then thrown it into the Tigris.” 41.14

[The author:] Abū Bakr al-Khallāl also tells the story, adding that the would-be benefactor was al-Ḥasan ibn ʿĪsā ibn Māsarjis, the client of Ibn al-Mubārak.

[Al-Tirmidhī:] A friend arrived from Khurasan and told me that he had done some business with the intention of giving the profits to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and made ten thousand dirhams on the deal. He asked me to take the money to Aḥmad. 41.15

“First let me go see how he feels about it,” I said.

I went to him, greeted him, and mentioned the man’s name. It turned out he knew of him.

“He’s made a profit of ten thousand dirhams,” I said, “and he wants to give it to you.” “May God reward him for his trouble!” said Aḥmad. “But we have all we need.” He refused to take the money, God have mercy on him.

[The author:] The same story is told by Abū Bakr al-Khallāl, who cites al- Marrūdhī. The man is identified as Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān al-Sarakhsī. In this version, the narrator adds that the man tried again but Aḥmad replied: “Let me live with some self-respect.” [Al-Barbarī:] Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Jarawī inherited a hundred thousand dinars, which was delivered to him from Egypt. To Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal he sent three sacks, each containing a thousand dinars. 41.16

“It’s from a legitimate inheritance,” he said. “Take it and support your family.” “I don’t need it,” he replied. “I have enough.” He returned the money and refused to take anything from the man.

[Ṣāliḥ:] I was there when Ibn al-Jarawī, the brother of al-Ḥasan, came to see my father after the sunset prayer. 41.17

“Everybody knows who I am,” said al-Jarawī. “I’ve come here today because I want to give you something. It’s money I’ve inherited, and I’d like you to accept it.” He kept insisting until finally my father got up and went back inside.

Later al-Ḥasan told me that his brother told him, “I saw that the more I insisted the more distant he got, so I figured I would tell him how much it was. I said, ‘Aḥmad, we’re talking about three thousand dinars.’ That’s when he walked out.” Abū Nuʿaym added that Ṣāliḥ said, “One day my father said to me, ‘When there’s not a single coin in the house, I’m happy.’” [Al-Jarawī:] I went to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and said, “This is a thousand dinars.

Take it and buy a property to support the children.” But he refused to take it. 41.18

He always used to welcome me, but after that, he said, “If you need something, I’d prefer you didn’t come here in person. If you want to ask me about something send a message.” So I ended up depriving myself of his company.

[Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥarb:] Somebody made an estimate of how much money Aḥmad turned down after he was brought to Samarra. It turned out to be seventy thousand. 41.19

[Ṣāliḥ:] One day I was with my father and the women of the house called me in. 41.20

“Tell your father that we’re out of flour”—or maybe “bread.” I told him, and he said, “I’ll take care of it right away.” He didn’t, and so they called me back in. I told him again, and he said, “Right away.” At that moment came a knock on the door. I went out and found a man from Khurasan dressed like a courier and carrying a staff with a sack tied onto it.

“What can I do for you?” I asked him.

“I need to see Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” I went in and told my father.

“Go out and ask him what he wants. Is it a legal problem or a Hadith?” The man said it was neither, and my father said, “Bring him in.” The man came in, put down the staff and the bag, and asked, “Are you Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal?” “Yes.” “I’m from Khurasan. One of my neighbors got sick and I went to visit him. I asked him if there was anything I could do, and he said, ‘See this five thousand dirhams?

When I’m dead, take it and give it to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.’ So here I am with the money, all the way from Khurasan.” “Was this man any relation of mine?” “No.” “Was he a member of the family?” “No.” “Is he returning some favor we did for him?”215

“No.” “So take it back, and thank you.” The man resisted and my father spoke to him roughly. Finally he took the money and left.

Some time later he was sitting and looking at his books when he raised his head and remarked, “Ṣāliḥ, do you know how long it’s been since that man from Khurasan was here?” “No.” “Today makes sixty-one days. Have you been hungry once during that time, or needed anything and not had it?” [ʿAbd Allāh:] I heard Fūrān report, “ʿAḥmad got sick”—this was before the year 200—“and a lot of people came to call on him. One of them was ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd, who left a little bag at his bedside. I told Aḥmad about it, and he said, ‘Return it to him just the way you found it.’ So I went and returned it.” 41.21

[Ṣāliḥ:] Fūrān said to my father, “I’ve got some shoes I’ll send you.” 41.22

My father said nothing. Fūrān said it again, and my father replied, “Don’t! The thought of them is distracting me.” Another time a man sent Chinese paper to a number of Hadith-men, including Yaḥyā. He sent a crate of it to my father, who refused it.

My father once told me, “Not since Ibn al-Mubārak has anyone like Ibn Maʿīn come out of Khurasan. Well, his son came to me and said that his father wanted to send me a jacket to remember him by. I told him to bring it. But when he arrived with a whole bundle of clothes, I told him, ‘Thank you and good-bye.’” By that he meant that he refused to take it.

[Muḥammad ibn Mūsā:] I heard Ibn Nayzak say, “I was following Aḥmad and Yaḥyā to Ibn Saʿduwayh’s”—or someone else’s place. “He”—I think it was Saʿduwayh —“had prepared a pot of food for them. When Aḥmad realized what was going on, he said, ‘It’s almost prayer time,’ and went out. No one dared say anything. He went to a public conduit216 where there was a pitcher. There he took out some crumbs of bread he had wrapped in a rag. He filled a jug from the pitcher and ate the crumbs out of his hand, washing them down with water. Afterward he prayed the afternoon prayer.

Then, after the others had eaten and said their prayers, he came back, asked permission to enter, sat down, and began writing.” 41.23

[Ḥumayd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Kūfī:] One day Aḥmad asked the Hadith-men whether any of them lived in al-Karkh. 41.24

“I do,” said one young man.

“Stay after,” he said. “I need you to do something.” Aḥmad gave the young man some dirhams and told him to buy paper and bring it next time.

The young man went and bought the paper. He also hid a number of dirhams between the pages.217 Then he came back and gave it to Aḥmad. After that he stopped coming.

Some time later, Aḥmad opened up the paper and the coins went flying. After he had gathered them up, he asked the Hadith-men if they knew the young man who had bought the paper.

“I know where he lives,” said one man.

“Stay after,” he said. “I need you to do something.” Picking up the money, Aḥmad followed the man out. When they reached Qaṭīʿat al-Rabīʿ, they found the young man sitting there.

“That’s the one you want,” said the man.

“You can go now,” said Aḥmad. Then he went over to the young man, greeted him, dumped the money in his lap, and left.

[Al-Tustarī:] There was a boy who used to come to Ibn Ḥanbal’s circle. One day Aḥmad gave him two dirhams and said, “Buy me some paper.” 41.25

The boy went out and bought the paper. Then he put five hundred dinars inside it, rolled it up and tied it, and sent it to Aḥmad’s house.

Later Aḥmad asked if anything white had been delivered. “Yes,” he was told, and the package was brought over to him. No sooner had he opened it than the coins went flying. After he had put them all back, he went looking for the boy. When he found him, he put the package down in front of him and walked away. The boy ran after him, saying, “The paper’s yours— I bought it with the two dirhams you gave me!” But Aḥmad wouldn’t take the paper either.

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I was told that when Aḥmad was sent back from the frontier, Abū Bakr al-Mustamlī went with him to look after him. He told the following story. 41.26

“When we stopped at one of the way stations, we found that one of his friends had sent him a hundred dinars, telling him to spend it on his travels. But he wouldn’t take it. I said, ‘Aḥmad, I’m a frontiersman with mouths to feed. Let me take it!’ “‘That won’t do,’ he said. ‘What they give you the first time isn’t like the second.218

Better to live with some dignity.’ “Then he sent it back.” [ʿAbd Allāh:] One night we heard a tapping on the door. I opened it and saw a man putting down a large footed tray covered with a white cloth. “Take this,” he said, then ran off before I could say anything. 41.27

It was a big tray. I brought it inside and put it in front of my father.

“What’s this?” he asked. “Did it come from Abū Muḥammad’s house?”—meaning Fūrān’s.

“No,” I said.

“Where, then? Who brought it here?” “Whoever it was put it down and left.” Under the cloth was some wholesome-looking food, along with goblets of sweets that had clearly cost someone a lot of money.

My father sat for a while, thinking hard. Finally he said, “Send some of it to your uncle’s house and give some to Ṣāliḥ’s children,” pointing to the girl and the boys.

“Take some for yourself, too.” Later I found out where it had come from.

Several people used to send him gifts but he would never partake. ʿAbdūs al-ʿAṭṭār often sent things, but he would never taste them.