[Al-Ṭarasūsī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ya taɓa faɗawa cikin rijiya wani abin yanke gashi na ƙarfe. Wani daga cikin masu haya a gidansa ya zo ya ciro shi. Nan take Aḥmad ya ba shi kuɗi, kamar rabin dirham ko makamancin haka. 42.1

[Al-Ṭarasūsī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once dropped a pair of clippers219 into the well. One of his tenants came along and fished it out. Aḥmad immediately handed him some money—half a dirham, more or less. 42.1

"Almakan ba su da daraja fiye da qīrāṭ guda," in ji mutumin. "Ba zan karɓi komai ba." Ƴan kwanaki bayan haka, Aḥmad ya tambaye shi, "Nawa ne hayar shagonka da ka ke bin bashi?" Mutumin ya ce, "Ta wata uku, a dirhami uku a kowane wata."221

“The clippers aren’t worth more than a qīrāṭ,”220 said the man. “I won’t take anything.” A few days later, Aḥmad asked him, “How much rent do you owe on your shop?” “Three months’ worth,” said the man, “at three dirhams a month.”221

"Ka ɗauka an biya," in ji Aḥmad, yana zana layi a kan asusunsa.

“Consider it paid,” said Aḥmad, drawing a line through his account.

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī Ḥanīfah al-Muʾaddib ya gaya mini, "Sa'ad da nake zuwa wurin mahaifinka, sau da yawa yakan ba ni abubuwa ya ce, 'Wannan rabin abin da muke da shi a gida ne.' Wata rana na zo na zauna na dogon lokaci. Ya fito da gurasa huɗu ya ce, 'Wannan rabin abin da muke da shi ne.' 42."2

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī Ḥanīfah al-Muʾaddib told me, “When I used to come see your father, he would often give me things and say, ‘This is half of what we’ve got in the house.’ One day I came and stayed for a long time. He brought out four loaves of bread and said, ‘This is half of what we have.’ 42.2

"Na fi so ka ba ni waɗannan huɗu daga gare ka," na ce masa, "da a ce na samu huɗu dubu daga wani." [Al-Warrāq:] Na taɓa zuwa wurin Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr don neman taimako. Ya ba ni dirhami huɗu ko biyar, yana cewa, "Wannan rabin abin da nake da shi ne." 42.3

“‘I’d rather have these four from you,’ I told him, ‘than four thousand from anyone else.’” [Al-Warrāq:] I once went to Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Numayr to ask for help. He gave me four or five dirhams, saying, “This is half of what I have.” 42.3

Wani lokaci kuma na je wurin Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal. Ya fitar da dirhami huɗu ya ce, “Wannan ne kaɗai abin da nake da shi.” [Al-Mustamlī:] Na taɓa gaya wa Aḥmad cewa babu abin da ya rage mana. Ya ba ni dirhami biyar ya ce, “Wannan ne kaɗai abin da nake da shi.” [Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad sau da yawa yana ba da abinci a sadaka. Wata rana, Abū Saʿīd al-Ḍarīr ya zo neman taimako. 42.4

Another time I went to Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal. He took out four dirhams and said, “This is all I have.” [Al-Mustamlī:] I once told Aḥmad that we had nothing left. He gave me five dirhams and said, “This is all I’ve got.” [Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad often used to give away food. One day, Abū Saʿīd al-Ḍarīr came to ask for help. 42.4

"Abin da nake da shi kawai," in ji Aḥmad, "shi ne wannan kututturen itace. Kawo mai ɗaukar kaya ka ɗauke shi."222

“All I’ve got,” said Aḥmad, “is this tree trunk. Bring a porter and take it.”222

Na sayar da shi da dirhami tara da dāniqi biyu.223

I sold it for nine dirhams and two dāniqs.223

Aḥmad yana cikin mutane mafi alheri da tawali'u, kuma koyaushe yana farin ciki idan ya bayar da kyauta.

Aḥmad was of the kindest and most unassuming disposition, and it always made him happy to give things away.

[Al-Nasāʾī:] A wata rana a ranar idi, Aḥmad ya gayyace ni in shiga. Na shiga na ga teburi da tire mai ƙafafu, a kan sa akwai kwano mai wasu ƙasusuwa, sannan akwai tukunya a gefe. 42.5

[Al-Nasāʾī:] Once during a feast day, Aḥmad invited me in. I went in and saw a table table and a dish with some bones in it sitting on a footed tray, and a pot off to the side. 42.5

"Ku ci abinci," ya ce. Da ya ga cewa ina jin kunya sosai ban shiga cin abincin tare da shi ba, sai ya ce, "Al-Ḥasan yana cewa, 'Mu ci abinci, wallahi!' Ibn Sīrīn kuma yana cewa, 'Abinci an yi shi ne domin a ci.' Ibrāhīm ibn Adham kuwa yana sayar da wasu sassan tufafinsa, yana kashe kuɗin a kan abokansa. A wurinsa, abubuwan duniya ba su da daraja fiye da haka," ya nuna wani gutsurar gangar dabino da aka jefar.

“Have something to eat,” he said. Seeing that I was too shy to join him, he said, “Al-Ḥasan used to say, ‘Let us eat, by God!’ And Ibn Sīrīn used to say, ‘Food is there to be eaten.’ And Ibrāhīm ibn Adham used to sell pieces of his clothing and spend the money on his friends. For him, the things of this world were worth no more than that,” pointing to a discarded length of palm trunk.

Jin haka, na natsu na ci abinci.

Hearing all that, I relaxed and ate.

[ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā:] Na yi sallar Juma'a kusa da Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Bayan da limami ya sallami jama'a, sai wani mabarata ya tashi ya nemi sadaka. Aḥmad ya samu tsabar kuɗi ya ba shi. Sai wani mutum ya ce wa mabaratan, "Zan ba ka dirhami ɗaya a kan wannan tsabar kuɗin." Ya ci gaba da ƙara adadin har ya kai dirhami hamsin, kafin mabaratan ya ce, "Ba zan bar ta ba. Ina son ta saboda dalili ɗaya da kai ma kake so!"224 42.6

[ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā:] I prayed the Friday prayer next to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. After the imam had dismissed the congregation, a beggar stood up and asked for alms. Aḥmad found a coin and gave it to him. A man then said to the beggar, “I’ll give you a dirham for that coin.” He kept upping the amount and finally reached fifty dirhams before the beggar said, “I’m not giving it up. I want it for the same reason you do!”224 42.6

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Ina tare da Aḥmad a hanyar zuwa Samarra sai muka tsaya a wani wurin hutawa. Na fitar da wata gurasa mai lebur, na kuma ajiye masa tulun ruwa a gabansa. Sai wani kare ya bayyana. Ya tsaya kusa da shi a kan kafafunsa na baya, ya fara kaɗa wutsiyarsa. Ya jefa masa wani ɗan abinci. Ba da daɗewa ba sai ya ke jefa masa wani ɗan abinci domin ya ci, duk lokacin da shi kansa ya ci wani lomar abinci.

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I was with Aḥmad on the way to Samarra when we stopped at a way station. I took out a loaf of flatbread and put a jug of water before him. Then a dog appeared. It stood beside him on its hind legs and started wagging its tail. He tossed it a bit of food. Soon he was tossing it a bit to eat for every bite he took himself.

Ina tsoron cewa a irin wannan yanayin Aḥmad zai mutu da yunwa, sai na tashi na kori karen. Sa'an nan na kalla na ga Aḥmad ya yi ja saboda kunya. "Bari ta tafi," ya ce.

Afraid that at that rate Aḥmad would starve, I got up and shooed the dog away. Then I looked and saw that Aḥmad was red with embarrassment. “Let it be,” he said.

Bisa ga Ibn ʿAbbās, suna da rayuka masu mugunta.225 42.7

“According to Ibn ʿAbbās, they have malicious souls.”225 42.7