[Ṣāliḥ:] Duk lokacin da wani ya yi wa mahaifina addu'a, yakan ce, "Kada ka kira kowa mai albarka har sai aikinsa ya ƙare." 56.1

[Ṣāliḥ:] Whenever someone said a prayer for my father, he would say, “Call no man blessed until his work is done.” 56.1

Sau da yawa ina jin sa yana cewa, "Allah ya tsare mu! Allah ya tsare mu!" Na ji shi yana ruwaito cewa ya ji Yūnus ɗan Muḥammad yana ruwaito cewa ya ji Ḥammād ɗan Zayd yana ruwaito cewa Yaḥyā ɗan Saʿīd ya bayyana cewa Saʿīd ɗan al-Musayyab yana cewa, "Allah ya tsare mu! Allah ya tsare mu!" Na kuma ji shi yana ruwaito cewa ya ji Zayd ɗan al-Ḥubāb yana ruwaito cewa ya ji ʿAyyāsh ɗan ʿUqbah yana ruwaito cewa ʿUmar ɗan ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz sau da yawa yana cewa, "Allah ya tsare mu! Allah ya tsare mu!" [ʿAbd Allāh:] Abin da nake so kawai shi ne in fita daga wannan a daidai, ba tare da cin nasara ko asara ba.295 56.2

I often heard him say, “God save us! God save us!” I heard him report that he heard Yūnus ibn Muḥammad report that he heard Ḥammād ibn Zayd report that Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd claimed that Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab used to say, “God save us! God save us!” I also heard him report that he heard Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb report that he heard ʿAyyāsh ibn ʿUqbah report that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al- ʿAzīz often used to say, “God save us! God save us!” [ʿAbd Allāh:] All I want is to come out of this even, without winning or losing.295 56.2

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Na kawo Ibrāhīm al-Ḥuṣarī, wanda mutum ne na kwarai, domin ya gana da Aḥmad. Ibrāhīm ya gaya masa cewa mahaifiyarsa ta yi mafarki game da shi, kuma ta faɗi wani abu game da Aljanna. "Ɗan'uwa," in ji Aḥmad, "Mutane sukan faɗi irin wannan magana game da Sahl ibn Salāmah, amma ya ci gaba har ya zubar da jini."296 Ya ƙara da cewa, "Mumini ya kamata ya yi farin ciki da mafarkai, amma kada ya taɓa dogara da su." 56.3

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I brought Ibrāhīm al-Ḥuṣarī, who was a righteous man, to meet Aḥmad. Ibrāhīm told him that his mother had dreamed of him and said something about the Garden. “Brother,” said Aḥmad, “People used to say the same kind of thing about Sahl ibn Salāmah, but he went on to shed blood.”296 He added, “A believer should find joy in dreams but never trust them.” 56.3

[Muḥammad ibn Ḥāzim:] Sa'ad na je gidan Aḥmad, sai wani tsoho ya zo ya gan shi. "Aḥmad," ya ce, "na ji wasu mutane suna magana game da kai, suna cewa kana cikin mafi kyawu." Aḥmad ya yi watsi da shi. 56.4

[Muḥammad ibn Ḥāzim:] Once when I was at Aḥmad’s an elderly man came to see him. “Aḥmad,” he said, “I overheard some people talking about you and saying you were among the best.” Aḥmad ignored him. 56.4

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Na taba jin Aḥmad yana cewa, "Ina tsoron Allah sosai har ba zan iya ci ko sha ba, kuma yanzu ba na son cin abinci kwata-kwata." 56.5

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I once heard Aḥmad say, “I’m too fearful of God to eat or drink, and now I don’t want to eat at all.” 56.5

A lokacin rashin lafiyarsa ta ƙarshe, Aḥmad yana buƙatar yin fitsari, sai ya nemi kwano. Na kawo masa ɗaya, na ga fitsarinsa ja sosai. Lokacin da na nuna wa ʿAbd al-Raḥmān mai magani, ya ce, "Wannan mutum ne da cikinsa ya tsage saboda damuwa," ko kuma "saboda baƙin ciki." [Al-Marrūdhī:] Wata safiya na shiga don ganin Aḥmad, na tambaye shi yadda yake. 56.6

During his final illness, Aḥmad needed to urinate, and called for a basin. I brought one, and saw that his urine was bright red. When I showed ʿAbd al-Raḥmān the healer, he said, “That’s a man with innards torn apart by worry”—or “by sorrow.” [Al-Marrūdhī:] One morning I went in to see Aḥmad and asked him how he was. 56.6

“Yaya mutum zai kasance,” ya amsa, “yayin da Ubangijinsa ke ɗora masa wajibai, Annabinsa yana buƙatar ya bi sunna ﷺ, mala'ikun nan biyu suna jiran ayyuka nagari, ransa yana kwadayin abin da yake so, Shaiɗan yana tura shi zuwa ga sha'awa, Mala'ikan Mutuwa yana neman ransa, kuma iyalinsa suna neman kuɗi?”

“How can a man be,” he answered, “with his Lord imposing obligations, his Prophet demanding that he follow the sunnah, his two angels waiting for good deeds, his soul clamoring for what it wants, the Devil goading him to lust, the Angel of Death seeking his life, and his family asking for money?”