[Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal shi ne mafi girma a zamaninsa, kamar yadda Sa'īd ibn al-Musayyab ya kasance a nasa zamanin, da Sufyān al-Thawrī a nasa. 14.3
[Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was the greatest man of his time, just as Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab was in his own time, and Sufyān al-Thawrī in his. 14.3
[Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī:] Hadisin da mutanen Madina, Kufa, Basra da Dimashƙu suka riƙa watsawa ya ƙare a hannun mutum huɗu: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Yaḥyā ibn Ma'īn, Zuhayr ibn Ḥarb, da Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah. Daga cikin huɗun, Aḥmad ne ya fi fahimtarsa. 14.4
[Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī:] The Hadith transmitted by the people of Medina, Kufa, Basra, and Damascus ended up in the hands of four men: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, Zuhayr ibn Ḥarb, and Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah. Of the four, Aḥmad understood it best. 14.4
[Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Shāfiʿī:] Lokacin da ɗan Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Saʿīd, ya rasu, Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī ya je ya gai da ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, wanda ya tashi tsaye don karɓar gaisuwarsa.
[Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Shāfiʿī:] When Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s son Saʿīd died, Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī went to see ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, who rose to greet him.
Sa'ad ya ce, "Me zai hana ni tashi? Don Allah, da mahaifina yana nan, zai tashi ma."
Ina nufin fassarar ta fito kamar haka: Lokacin da Ibrāhīm ya yi ƙorafi, ʿAbd Allāh ya ce, "Me zai hana ni tashi? Don Allah, da mahaifina yana nan, shi ma zai tashi."
14.5
When Ibrāhīm protested, ʿAbd Allāh said, “Why shouldn’t I get up? By God, if my father were here, he would too.” 14.5
“In sha Allah” ba, idan Ibn ʿUyaynah ya haɗu da mahaifinka,” Ibrāhīm ya amsa, “da ya tashi ya gaishe shi.” [Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī:] Na ji ana cewa mutane suna yabon Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ba tare da sanin abin da suke magana a kai ba. Amma ina rantsuwa da Allah, ban iya tunanin wani Tabiʿi da yake da fifiko a kansa ba, kuma ban san wani da zai iya zama irin musulmin da shi ya kasance ba. Na san shi shekara ashirin; ina tare da shi dare da rana, a lokacin rani da lokacin sanyi, cikin zafi da cikin sanyi, kuma kowace rana yana fin abin da ya yi a ranar baya. Manyan malaman Musulunci da mazan ilimi na kowane gari da yanki suna zuwa su gan shi. Muddin suna waje da masallacinsa, sukan yi tafiya cikin alfahari, amma idan sun shiga ciki, sai su koma almajirai kamar da.6
“If Ibn ʿUyaynah had met your father,” replied Ibrāhīm, “he would have gotten up to greet him.” [Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī:] I’ve heard it said that people praise Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal without knowing what they’re talking about. But by God, I can’t think of a single Successor who has anything over him, nor do I know of anyone who can be the kind of Muslim he was. I knew him for twenty years; I was with him night and day, summer and winter, in the heat and in the cold, and every day he outdid what he had done the day before. The leading scholars of Islam and the learned men of every town and region used to come to see him. As long as they were outside his mosque, they carried themselves proudly, but when they went in, they became pupils all over again. 14.6
[Al-ʿUkbarī:] Na ji Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī yana cewa, "A ganina, ra'ayin dukkan Tabi'ai yana da daraja iri ɗaya, kuma wanda na ƙarshe da ake ƙidaya a matsayin Tabi'i shi ne Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, wanda a ganina shi ne mafi girma a cikinsu duka. Game da wanda ya rantse cewa zai saki matarsa idan ya aikata wani aiki kaza, sannan ya manta da rantsuwarsa ya aikata aikin, Tabi'ai duka suna cewa dole ne ya saki matarsa."99 14.7
[Al-ʿUkbarī:] I heard Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī say, “The way I see it, the opinions of all the Successors have equal weight, and the last man to count as a Successor is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, who in my view is the greatest of them all. Regarding a man who swears to divorce his wife if he does such-and-such an act and then forgets his oath and performs the act, the Successors all say that he must divorce his wife.”99 14.7
Ibrāhīm kuma aka tambaye shi game da abin da ya kamata ya faru idan wani rukuni na mutane suka nutse a cikin teku suka kuma yi sallah ba tare da tufafi masu dacewa ba. Ya ce, "Tabi'ai, ciki har da Aḥmad, wanda shi ne mafi girma daga cikinsu, suna cewa shugaba ya kamata ya tsaya tare da su, kuma rukunin ya yi motsin hannu maimakon durkushewa da sujjada. Wasu mutane na iya sabawa Aḥmad da Tabi'ai game da wannan, amma ba ruwana."8
Ibrāhīm was also asked about what should happen if a group of people are shipwrecked and have to pray without proper clothing. He said, “The Successors— including Aḥmad, who is the greatest of them—say that the leader should stand with them100 and that the group should make gestures instead of kneeling and prostrating themselves. Some people may disagree with Aḥmad and the Successors about this, but I don’t care.” 14.8
[Abū l-Ḥasan Dulayl:] Na ji Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī yana cewa, "Daga cikin manyan mutanen wannan duniya, na haɗu da mutum uku waɗanda babu kamarsu. Na farko shi ne Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Ba na tsammanin wani kamarsa zai sake haihuwa. Na biyu shi ne Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith, wanda aka cika da kamun kai daga saman kansa har zuwa tafin ƙafafunsa. Na uku shi ne Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, wanda yake kamar dutse cike da ilimi." 14.9
[Abū l-Ḥasan Dulayl:] I heard Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī say, “Of the great men of this world, I’ve met three like no other. The first was Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. I don’t think another like him will ever be born. The second was Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith, who was filled with self-restraint from the crown of his head down to the soles of his feet. The third was Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, who was like a mountain filled with learning.” 14.9
Daga cikin su uku, Aḥmad ne kaɗai Ibrāhīm zai ambata a matsayin tushen Hadisi.
Of the three, Aḥmad was the only one Ibrāhīm would cite as a source for Hadith.