[Al-Būshanjī:] Of all the people I saw in Aḥmad’s time, I never met anyone as mindful of religion, as careful, as self-controlled, or as abstinent as Aḥmad, nor anyone as learned or as discerning in matters of religion, nor anyone so generous in spirit, so firm of heart, so congenial in company, or so unmistakably sincere.196 38.1

[ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once said to me, “I wish I could accompany you to Mecca, but I’m afraid I’ll get tired of your company, or you of mine.” 38.2

When I came to say good-bye, I asked him if he wanted anything and he said, “I want you to remain fearful of God and mindful of the afterlife.” [Ḥanbal:] I remember that whenever Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal wanted to get up, he would say to whoever was with him, “By your leave.” 38.3

[Al-Sijistānī:] Sitting with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal meant talking about the next world; the things of this world were never mentioned. I never saw him talk about this world at all. 38.4

[Ibn al-Munādī:] I heard my grandfather say, “Aḥmad was extremely modest, but generous in spirit; he was one of the most thoughtful and considerate people I’ve ever seen. He would sit with his head bowed and his eyes averted much of the time, and avoid talking about anything unseemly or frivolous. When he did talk, it was to exchange Hadith or recall the example set by righteous men and renunciants, which he did with quiet dignity and eloquence. When meeting people, he would smile and give them his full attention. He showed great deference to senior men of learning, who in turn respected him enormously. He displayed the greatest veneration for Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, who was seven or so years older than he.” 38.5

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Whenever my father left the mosque to come into the house, he would slap his sandal against the ground so people could hear him coming. He would often clear his throat, too, to let people know he was coming in. 38.6

[Muhannaʾ:] I saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal more than once or twice—more than three or four or five times, really—letting people kiss his face, his head, or his cheek. He wouldn’t say anything, but he wouldn’t stop them, either. I saw Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd al-Hāshimī kiss him on the head and forehead. He didn’t stop him and he didn’t seem to disapprove. I also saw Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm kissing him on the forehead and the face. 38.7

[Al-Khallāl:] I asked Zuhayr ibn Ṣāliḥ if he had ever seen his grandfather, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. 38.8

“Yes,” he said. “I was about eight years old the first time. I was ten when he died.”197

“Do you remember what he was like?” “My sisters and I used to visit him every Friday. The door between our house and his was left open. He used to write a note to a man he bought nuts and dried fruit from and tell him to give each of us two silver pennies’ worth, and we would go and take two pennies’ worth of nuts or fruit and bring something for our sisters too.198

“Many times I saw him sitting in the sun with his back exposed and the scars showing.

“I had a younger brother named ʿAlī, with the nickname Abū Ḥafs. My father wanted to have him circumcised. He prepared a lot of food and invited people to come over. When the time came, he sent someone to invite my grandfather too. Later my father told me what he said: ‘I’ve heard about this new thing you’re doing, and I’ve heard that you’ve been wasteful about it. You should start with the poor and ill and feed them first.’ 38.9

“The next day, when the cupper and the family members had arrived, my father went in to tell my grandfather. My grandfather came out with him, sat down next to the little boy, and stayed there while the circumcision took place. Afterward he took out two knotted pieces of cloth and gave one to the cupper and the other to the boy.

Then he went back into his house. The cupper looked into the little bag and found a single dirham. We looked into the boy’s bag and found the same.

“We had removed most of the things we had spread on the floor and put the boy on a little platform resting on some dyed garments. My grandfather didn’t seem to disapprove.

“Once my grandfather’s maternal cousin, who had the kunyah Abū Aḥmad, came from Khurasan and stayed with my father. One day after sunset prayers, my father told me to take Abū Aḥmad by the hand and show him in to my grandfather. I went into my grandfather’s house and found him doing more prayers so I sat down. When he finished, he asked me if Abū Aḥmad had arrived. 38.10

“‘Yes.’ “‘Tell him to come in.’ “I went out, found Abū Aḥmad, and brought him back in. He sat down. My grandfather called out to an elderly woman—a tenant of his199—who used to work for him, and she brought out some bread, fresh herbs, vinegar, and salt on a wicker tray.

Later she brought out one of those big platters and put it in front of us. It was a driedwhey stew200 with lots of meat and chard. We started eating and he joined us. As we ate, he asked Abū Aḥmad about the members of the family who were still in Khurasan. Several times, Abū Aḥmad had trouble understanding things in Arabic and so my grandfather would speak to him in Persian. All the while, he would choose pieces of meat and serve them to Abū Aḥmad and me too. Afterward he picked up the platter himself and put it aside, then brought over a serving dish containing premium Barnī dates and shelled walnuts and put it in front of us on the tray. He ate and we did too, with him serving Abū Aḥmad. Then we washed our hands, with each of us taking care of himself.” [Al-ʿAṭṭār:] I sent my young son, along with a slave woman, to give my regards to Aḥmad. He welcomed the boy, held him in his lap, and asked him questions. He also sent out for a pudding,201 which he brought in, put in front of the boy, and coaxed him to eat, inviting the woman to eat as well. Then he went out to a vendor of fruits, nuts, and sweets, and came back with some almonds and sugar wrapped up in his gown. He took everything out, wrapped it up in a handkerchief, and gave it to the servant. Then he said to the boy, “Tell Abū Muḥammad I said hello.” 38.11

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I once saw Aḥmad toss two dirhams into a circumciser’s basin. 38.12

[Al-Maymūnī:] I would often ask Aḥmad about something and he would say, “At your service!” 38.13

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad was never abusive. If anyone was abusive to him, he would bear it patiently. Instead of getting angry, he would say, “May God suffice!”202 38.14

He didn’t bear grudges or speak rashly. His uncle once quarreled with the neighbors. When they would come to see Aḥmad, he would receive them as courteously as he always had, without taking sides or arguing his uncle’s part.

He was very humble and loved the poor. I never saw poor men treated as well as they were when sitting in his company. He would treat them with special consideration while disregarding the affluent. He was graced with a quiet dignity. Whenever, in the late afternoon, he would sit in his usual place and give legal opinions, he would not speak until someone asked him a question. If he went out to his mosque, he didn’t go sit in the center of the gathering; instead, he sat wherever there was room. When he sat, he would never extend his leg, for fear of seeming disrespectful of others.

He was kind, cheerful, and accommodating, and never vulgar or coarse. What he loved, he loved for the sake of God, and likewise for the things he hated. When he liked someone, he would show as much regard for his well-being as he would for his own, making no distinction between his own wishes and aversions and those of his friend. Even so, friendship never prevented him from intervening when someone he cared for behaved badly or wronged anyone else. Whenever he learned that someone was righteous, or self-denying, or had stood up for justice, or furthered the cause, he would inquire about him, talk about wanting to meet him, and express curiosity about his circumstances.

He was a sensitive man: if he didn’t like something, he showed it. He would become indignant, though only on behalf of God; he would never get angry on his own behalf or do anything to promote his own interests. Wherever a matter of religion was at stake, he would become so incensed that he seemed a different person altogether:

one heedless of blame or reproach. All the same he was easy to live with because he would suffer without complaint. One of his neighbors—a man who shared a wall with him—told me this story.

“We had a dovecote, with pigeons in it, overlooking Aḥmad’s house. As a boy, I would climb up there and look down at him. He put up with it and never told me to stop. Then one day my uncle went up there and saw that the dovecote overlooked Aḥmad’s house.

“‘Shame on you!’ he said to me. ‘Can’t you see that you’re disturbing Aḥmad?’ “‘But he never said anything to me!’ “‘You’d better give me those birds, or else!’ “He kept after me until I gave him the birds. Then he slaughtered them and tore down the dovecote.” [Hārūn ibn Sufyān:] When Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal decided to give away the money that al-Mutawakkil had given him, I went to see him and he gave me two hundred dirhams. 38.15

“I need more,” I told him.

“That’s all there is,” he said, “but I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you three hundred and you can give it away.” After I took the money I said, “Aḥmad, I’m not giving a single dirham away to anyone.” All he did was smile.

[Al-Anmāṭī:] Once I was at Aḥmad’s and he mentioned a Hadith I wanted to write down. He had his inkwell in front of him, and I asked if I could use it. 38.16

“Of course,” he said gruffly. “No need to stand on ceremony!”203

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Someone asked my father why he didn’t spend more time with people. 38.17

“Because I hate saying good-bye,” he said.

[Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī:] Aḥmad would attend marriages, weddings, and circumcisions if invited, and eat what he was served there. 38.18

I once heard him say to Aḥmad ibn Ḥafṣ al-Wakīʿī, “I’m very fond of you, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān.” Then he recited, “We heard Yaḥyā report, cit ing Thawr, citing Ḥabīb ibn ʿUbayd, citing al-Miqdām, that the Prophet—God bless and keep him— said, ‘When one of you feels affection for another, he should tell him.’” [Hārūn:] One night Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal came knocking on my door. 38.19

“Who is it?” I asked.

“It’s Aḥmad,” he said.

I rushed to the door. He wished me a good evening and I did likewise. Then I asked him if something was wrong.

“Yes,” he said. “I’ve been worried about you.” “Why?” “Today, when I walked by you, you were reciting Hadith sitting in the shade while the people holding the pens and notebooks were sitting in the sun. Don’t do that again! When you teach, make sure to sit with the people who are listening to you.” [Al-Maṣṣīṣī:] I was once at Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s when they were reciting Hadith.

Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā l-Naysābūrī recited a weak report, and Aḥmad said, “Don’t cite reports like that.” 38.20

Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā looked abashed, but then Aḥmad said, “I said that only out of respect for you.” [Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥakam:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal came to Kufa to study Hadith. He came regularly to hear Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ and heard a great many reports from him. 38.21

[Isḥāq ibn Hāniʾ:] We were once at Aḥmad’s house with al-Marrūdhī and Muhannaʾ ibn Yaḥyā l-Shāmī. There was a knock on the door and someone called out, “Is al-Marrūdhī here?” 38.22

Since al-Marrūdhī didn’t want anyone to know where he was, Muhannaʾ ibn Yaḥyā put his finger on the palm of his hand204 and called back, “Al-Marrūdhī’s not here.

What would he be doing here anyway?” Aḥmad laughed and did not seem to disapprove.