[ʿUbayd al-Qāriʾ:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s uncle once went to see him and found him with his chin cupped in his hand. “Nephew,” he asked, “what’s troubling you? Why so glum?” 55.1

“Uncle,” Aḥmad replied, “happiness is when God makes sure that no one’s ever heard of you.” [Abū Ḥātim:] My father said, “All you had to do was look at Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal to see that he wasn’t trying to show off how ascetic he was. I saw him wearing sandals that didn’t look like the sandals that the Qurʾan-readers292 wear. The toe-end was big and curled back and the strap hung loose. They looked like something bought for him from the market. I also saw him wearing a breechclout and a striped gown of a skyblue color.”293 55.2

By dressing this way Aḥmad was trying to avoid—or so I think, though God alone knows the truth—looking like a Qurʾan-reader, in the hope of losing his reputation for piety.

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad once said to me, “Tell ʿAbd al-Wahhāb to hide his light under a bushel. Fame has brought me nothing but suffering.” 55.3

[Al-Khallāl:] I heard him say, “I swear that if I knew a way to leave this city, I’d leave it. Then no one would mention me to them, and they’d forget about me.”294

[Isḥāq:] I once saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal going back inside his house after praying the dawn prayer. He was telling people, “Stop following me around!” 55.4

[Ibn Hārūn:] I remember that Aḥmad didn’t like it when people followed him down the street. 55.5

[ʿAbd Allāh:] When my father went out on Fridays he wouldn’t let anyone follow him. He would often stop and wait until they gave up and went away. 55.6

[Isḥāq:] I saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal walking all by himself as if he were a man of no importance. 55.7