[Al-Dārimī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ya taɓa aika mini wasiƙa kamar haka: "Zuwa ga Abū Jaʿfar—Allah ya ƙara maka alheri!—daga Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal." 34.1

[Al-Dārimī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once addressed a letter to me as follows: “To Abū Jaʿfar—God grace you!—from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” 34.1

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad ya kasance yana cewa kalmar "zuwa" a cikin gaisuwa da kira ya kamata ta zama ilā ba li- ba, kuma ya rubuta wasiƙunsa bisa haka.192 34.2

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad used to say that the word “to” in addresses should be ilā and not li-, and addressed his letters accordingly.192 34.2

[Sa'id ibn Ya'qub:] Ahmad ibn Hanbal ya rubuta mini wasiƙa kamar haka: 34.3

[Saʿid ibn Yaʿqūb:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal wrote me the following letter: 34.3

Da sunan Allah, Mai rahama, Mai jin ƙai. Daga Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad zuwa Sa'id ibn Ya'qūb. Bayan haka: sha'awar abubuwan duniya wata irin cuta ce, kuma sha'awar mulki na duniya wata cuta ce daban. Amma mutumin ilimi likita ne. Amma idan ka taba ganin likita yana jawo wa kansa cuta, ka guje shi.

In the name of God, full of compassion, ever compassionate From Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad to Saʿid ibn Yaʿqūb Now then: desire for the things of this world is one kind of sickness, and desire for earthly power is another. The man of learning, on the other hand, is a physician. But if you ever see a physician bringing sickness on himself, avoid him.

Salamu alaikum! [Ḥanbal:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ya kasance yana rubuta wasiƙu da farawa da cewa daga Fulani zuwa Fulani. Sa'ad da na tambaye shi dalilin haka, ya ce, "Annabi ﷺ ya rubuta wa Kisra da Kaisar, da dukan sauran wasiƙunsa, haka. Haka ma sahabbansa, kamar yadda ʿUmar—Allah ya yarda da shi—ya rubuta wa ʿUtbah ibn Farqad. Kuma a yau haka nake rubutawa ga malamin Hadisi da ban sani ba." 34.4

Peace to you! [Ḥanbal:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal used to address letters by writing from So-and-So to So-and-So. When I asked him why, he said, “The Prophet, God bless and keep him, wrote to Chosroes and Caesar, and all his other letters, that way. So did his Companions, as when ʿUmar—God be pleased with him—wrote to ʿUtbah ibn Farqad. And today that’s how I write to a Hadith scholar I don’t know.” 34.4

"Shin kana ambatar kanka ne da farko?" "Idan kana rubutawa mahaifinka, ya fi kyau ka sanya sunansa farko maimakon naka, haka ma idan kana rubutawa wanda ya tsufa. In ba haka ba, babu laifi." [Ibn Manīʿ:] Na so in je in yi karatu wurin Suwayd ibn Saʿīd, sai na roki Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ya rubuta mini wasiƙa zuwa gare shi. Sai ya rubuta wasiƙa yana siffanta ni da "wani mutum mai rubuta Hadisi." 34.5

“So you mention yourself first?” “If you’re writing to your father, it’s better to put his name first instead of yours, and the same if you’re writing to someone old. Otherwise it’s fine.” [Ibn Manīʿ:] I wanted to go study with Suwayd ibn Saʿīd and I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal if he would write to him for me. So he wrote a letter describing me as “a man who writes down Hadith.” 34.5

"Aḥmad," na yi korafi, "ka yi tunanin tsawon lokacin da na yi maka hidima. Ba za ka iya rubuta cewa ni mutumin Hadisi ne ba?" Ya ce, "Mutumin Hadisi, abin da nake kira mutum shi ne wanda yake aiwatar da Hadisi."

“Aḥmad,” I protested, “think how long I’ve served you. Couldn’t you write that I’m a Hadith-man?” “A Hadith-man,” he said, “is what I call someone who puts Hadith into practice.”