ʿAbd Allāh: Na ji Abū Zurʿah yana cewa Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ya san hadisai miliyan guda. 8.1

[ʿAbd Allāh:] I heard Abū Zurʿah say that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal knew a million Hadith reports. 8.1

"Ta yaya za ka sani?" aka tambaye shi.

“How would you know?” he was asked.

Shi da ni suka karanta wa juna, kuma muka bi ta cikin batutuwa daban-daban.49

“He and I recited them to each other, and we went through the different topics.”49

[Ṣāliḥ:] Mahaifina ya gaya mini cewa wani mutum ya taba zuwa ƙofar Ibn ʿUlayyah dauke da littattafan Hadisi na Hushaym. 8.2

[Ṣāliḥ:] My father told me that a man once came to Ibn ʿUlayyah’s door with Hushaym’s Hadith books. 8.2

Ya fara karanta mini rahotanni, ni kuma ina faɗin sarkar masu ruwaitawa ga kowane ɗaya. Al-Mu'ayṭī ma yana haddace Hadisi, kuma sa'ad da ya zo na roƙe shi ya karɓi aikin, amma ya ƙi.50

“He started reading the reports out to me, and I would say the chain of transmitters for each one. Al-Muʿayṭī also used to memorize Hadith, and when he arrived I asked him to take over, but he wouldn’t.”50

Mahaifina ya ce, "Har na san rahotanni [wanda Hushaym ya ruwaito] wadanda ban taba jiwa daga gare shi kai tsaye ba." [Aḥmad:] Na haddace duk abin da na ji daga Hushaym tun yana raye. 8.3

My father said, “I even knew of reports [transmitted by Hushaym] that I had never heard directly from him.” [Aḥmad:] I memorized everything I heard from Hushaym while he was still alive. 8.3

[Ibn Abī Ḥātim:] Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr al-Bardhaʿī ya taɓa tambayar Abū Zurʿah wane ne ya fi haddace hadisi, shi ko Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. 8.4

[Ibn Abī Ḥātim:] Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr al-Bardhaʿī once asked Abū Zurʿah who had memorized more, he or Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. 8.4

"Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, tabbas." "Ta yaya kuka sani?" "Lokacin da na duba takardunsa," in ji Abū Zurʿah, "na ga cewa a gaban kowane ɗan littafi,51 ba ya rubuta sunayen masu ruwaito hadisai daga wajensu. Maimakon haka, ga kowane ɗan littafi, yana sane da sunayen masu ruwaito a zuciyarsa. Ni ban taɓa iya yin hakan ba." [Al-Tustarī:] An tambayi Abū Zurʿah game da waɗanne ne daga cikin manyan masu ruwaito hadisai suke da mafi kyawun ƙwaƙwalwa. 8.5

“Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, of course.” “How do you know that?” “When I looked at his papers,” said Abū Zurʿah, “I saw that at the front of each quire,51 he didn’t list the names of the transmitters he heard reports from. Instead, for every quire, he knew the names of the transmitters by heart. I could never do that.” [Al-Tustarī:] Abū Zurʿah was asked which of the senior transmitters had the best memory. 8.5

"Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal," ya ce. "Ranar da ya rasu, sai aka kiyasta adadin takardun da ya bari. Sun kai lodi goma sha biyu da rabi.52 Babu inda a waje na shafukan ya rubuta 'Hadisin Wane,' ko 'Wane ya ba mu labari' a cikin shafukan ciki. Duk wannan yana cikin zuciyarsa ne." [Abū Zurʿah:] Na je wajen Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, na roƙe shi ya nemo mini Hadisin Sufyān. Ya fito da takardu da aka rubuta wa lakabi Sufyān kawai, babu wani rahoto da aka yi masa alama da "Wane ne ya ruwaito." Na yi tunanin duk an ruwaito su ne daga mutum ɗaya. Amma da na zaɓi wasu daga cikinsu don ya karanta mini, sai ya ce a kan kowane Hadisi, "Wakīʿ," ko "Yaḥyā," ko wani, "ya ba mu labari…" Na yi mamaki. Fiye da sau ɗaya na yi ƙoƙarin yin irin haka, amma ban taɓa iya ba. 8.6

“Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal,” he said. “The day he died, they made an estimate of the number of papers he left behind. It came to twelve and a half loads.52 Nowhere on any of the outside pages had he written ‘the Hadith of So-and-So,’ or ‘So-and-So reported to us’ on any of the inside pages. All of that he knew by heart.” [Abū Zurʿah:] I went to see Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and asked him to find Sufyān’s Hadith for me. He brought out quires all labeled Sufyān, just Sufyān, without marking a single report as “Transmitted by So-and-So.” I thought they must all have been transmitted by the same person. But when I picked some out for him to read back, he would say for each Hadith, “Wakīʿ,” or “Yaḥyā,” or whoever, “reported to us …” I was amazed. More than once I’ve tried to do something like that, but I’ve never been able to. 8.6

[Aḥmad:] Na kan ƙalubalanci Wakīʿ ya faɗi hadisan al-Thawrī daga zuciya. Duk lokacin da Wakīʿ ya gama sallar dare ta ƙarshe, yakan fita daga masallaci ya nufi gida. Ni kuwa kan ƙalubalance shi, sai ya amsa min da ambaton hadisai tara ko goma, waɗanda ni kuma nakan haddace. Bayan ya tafi, malaman hadisi kan roƙe ni in karanta musu hadisan, sai in karanta musu. 8.7

[Aḥmad:] I used to challenge Wakīʿ to recite al-Thawrī’s Hadith reports from memory. Whenever Wakiʿ finished the last prayer of the night, he would leave the mosque and head for home. I would challenge him and he would often reply by citing nine or ten reports, which I would then memorize. After he left, the Hadith scholars would ask me to dictate the reports to them, and I would. 8.7

[Ibn Saʿīd:] Duk lokacin da Wakīʿ zai bar majalisar hadisi don yin sallar magariba, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal yakan bi shi ya tsaya a bakin ƙofa yayin da Wakīʿ ke ta tambayarsa game da rahotannin hadisi. Wata dare, Wakīʿ ya tsaya a bakin ƙofar yana riƙe da gefunan ƙofar da hannayensa, ya ce, “Zan gwada ka a kan hadisin Sufyān.” 8.8

[Ibn Saʿīd:] Whenever Wakīʿ would leave the Hadith-circle to pray the evening prayer, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal would go with him and stand by the door while Wakīʿ kept quizzing him about reports. One night, Wakīʿ stopped in the doorway with his hands on the jamb and said, “I’m going to test you on the Hadith of Sufyān.” 8.8

"Ku ci gaba," in ji Ibn Ḥanbal.

“Go ahead,” said Ibn Ḥanbal.

"Shin ka haddace abin da Sufyān ya ruwaito daga Salamah ibn Kuhayl … ?" Wakīʿ ya tambaya, yana karanta Hadísin.

“Have you memorized what Sufyān transmitted citing Salamah ibn Kuhayl … ?” asked Wakīʿ, reciting the Hadith.

"Eh," in Aḥmad ya ce. "Mun ji Yaḥyā yana ruwaitowa," yana ambatar mai ruwaitowar.

“Yes,” said Aḥmad. “We heard Yaḥyā report,” giving the transmitter.

"Me game da Salamah a kan wannan da wancan?" "Mun ji Abdurrahman yana ruwaitowa," in ji Ahmad.

“What about Salamah on such-and-such?” “We heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān report,” said Aḥmad.

"Me game da Sufyān daga Salamah a kan wannan da wancan?" "Mun ji hakan daga gare ka." Haka suka ci gaba har suka kammala duk rahotannin da Salamah ya watsa. Sai Aḥmad ya tambaya: "Ka san rahoton Salamah game da …?" sannan ya ambaci Hadīthin.

“What about Sufyān from Salamah on such and-such?” “We heard that from you.” And so they continued until they had covered all of the reports transmitted by Salamah. Then Aḥmad asked: “Do you know Salamah’s report about … ?” giving the Hadith.

"A'a," in ji Wakī'.

“No,” said Wakīʿ.

Aḥmad ya fara tambayar rahotanni ɗaya bayan ɗaya. Kowane lokaci, Wakīʿ ya kasa amsawa. Aḥmad ya bi rahotannin sauran manyan masu ruwaito ɗaya bayan ɗaya.

Aḥmad then began asking about one report after another. Each time, Wakīʿ was stumped. Aḥmad went through the reports of the other major transmitters one by one.

Yana tsaye a wurin lokacin da baiwa ta bayyana ta ce, "Tauraron safiya"—ko "Venus"—"ya fito!" [Aḥmad:] Wakīʿ yana karanta hadisai waɗanda duka suna da sanda ɗaya na masu ruwaitawa, kamar dai ya haddace su duka haka. Da daddare ni kuma nakan haddace goma ko sha biyar daga cikinsu.53 8.9

He was still standing there when the servant girl appeared and said, “The morning star”—or “Venus”—“is up!” [Aḥmad:] Wakīʿ used to recite reports that all had the same chain of transmitters, as if he had memorized them all that way. At night I used to commit ten or fifteen of them to memory.53 8.9

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Mahaifina yana gaya mini, "Ka ɗauki kowane littafi daga tarin Wakīʿ, ka faɗa mini abin da kowane hadisi ya ce, ni kuma zan faɗa maka sarkar masu ruwaitawa."

[ʿAbd Allāh:] My father used to tell me, “Take any of the books of Wakīʿ’s collection and tell me what any report says and I’ll tell you the chain of transmitters.

"Ko ka faɗa mini silsilar isnadin, sai in gaya maka abin da hadisin ya ce."54 8.10

Or tell me the chain and I’ll tell you what the report says.”54 8.10