Dalam bab tentang masa kecilnya, kami mencatat bahwa Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal sudah sangat dihormati bahkan ketika masih remaja. 19.1

In the chapter about his childhood, we noted that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was highly regarded even as a youth. 19.1

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Suatu ketika saya berkata kepada Aḥmad, "Banyak orang yang mendoakanmu." "Itu membuatku takut," katanya. "Hal itu bisa menjadi godaan bagi diriku untuk merasa tinggi hati."

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I once said to Aḥmad, “There are a lot of people praying for you.” “That frightens me,” he said. “It could be a temptation to think highly of myself.

"Mengapa mereka melakukannya?" Suatu ketika aku bertanya kepadanya bahwa aku pernah bertemu dengan seorang laki-laki dari Tarsus yang mengatakan bahwa ia telah berperang melawan Byzantium. Di keheningan malam, katanya, para prajurit akan berseru, "Berdoalah kepada Allah untuk Abū ʿAbd Allāh!" Ia melanjutkan: "Kami menarik lengan mangonel112 lalu melepaskannya. Sekali waktu kami melontarkan batu ke arah seorang barbar113 yang berdiri di atas benteng di balik perisainya, dan batu itu menghantam kepala dan perisainya sekaligus."114

Why do they do it?” I once told him that I had met a man from Tarsus who said that he had been fighting the Byzantines. In the still of the night, he told me, the men would call out “Pray to God for Abū ʿAbd Allāh!” He went on: “We would pull back the arm of the mangonel112 and then release it. Once we shot a stone at a barbarian113 standing on a rampart behind his shield, and the stone knocked off his head and the shield both.”114

Wajah Aḥmad seketika murung, lalu dia berkata, "Seandainya ini bukan suatu godaan!" Kemudian dia berkata, "Menurutmu, ini godaan?" "Tentu saja tidak," jawabku.

Aḥmad’s face fell, and he said, “If only it weren’t a temptation!” Then he said, “Do you think it’s a temptation?” “Of course not,” I answered.

[Al-Abbār:] Kami telah berjalan menyusuri Sungai Balkh selama beberapa hari ketika bekal kami habis, maka dua orang dari kami berangkat menuju Bukhārā untuk membeli sesuatu untuk dimakan.

[Al-Abbār:] We’d been marching along the Balkh River for several days when our provisions ran out, so two of us headed off toward Bukhārā to buy something to eat.

Di tengah perjalanan kami bertemu dengan seorang pria berambut pirang dan berwajah kemerahan yang bertanya kepada kami dari mana asal kami.

On the way we met a blond-haired, red-faced man who asked us where we were from.

Ketika kami memberitahunya bahwa kami berasal dari Baghdad, dia bertanya, "Bagaimana kabar Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?" 19.2

When we told him we were from Baghdad, he asked, “How is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?” 19.2

"Ketika kami pergi, dia masih hidup dan sehat." Orang itu mengangkat kepalanya dan berdoa kepada Tuhan agar Aḥmad senantiasa dalam keadaan baik.

“When we left, he was alive and well.” The man raised his head and prayed to God for Aḥmad’s well-being.

"Sekarang aku sudah melihat semuanya," kataku kepada teman seperjalananku. "Bahkan di sini, di perbatasan Islam, di tengah orang-orang Turki!" [Al-Marrūdhī:] Pernah aku memberitahu Aḥmad bahwa ada seseorang yang berkata bahwa dari sini sampai ke negeri Turki, orang-orang mendoakan kesejahteraannya. Aku bertanya kepadanya bagaimana ia menunjukkan rasa syukurnya atas ketenaran yang dianugerahkan Tuhan kepadanya. 19.3

“Now I’ve seen it all,” I said to my companion. “Even here, on the frontier of Islam, among the Turks!” [Al-Marrūdhī:] I once told Aḥmad that someone had said that from here as far as the land of the Turks, people were praying for his well-being. I asked him how he showed his gratitude for the popularity God had blessed him with. 19.3

"Saya berdoa kepada Tuhan agar saya tidak melakukan apa pun demi penampilan," katanya.

“I pray to God that I do nothing for the sake of appearances,” he said.

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Bilāl dan saya pergi menemui Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Tirmidhī, yang berkata kepada kami, "Sekelompok dari kami berada di tempat Wahb ibn Jarīr. Aḥmad juga ada di sana. Dia meminta saya untuk membaca,115 tetapi saya tidak melakukannya." 19.4

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Bilāl and I went to see Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Tirmidhī, who told us, “A group of us were at Wahb ibn Jarīr’s. Aḥmad was there too. He asked me to read,115 but I didn’t.” 19.4

Kami bertanya kepadanya mengapa tidak.

We asked him why not.

"Saya tidak ingin membaca karena Aḥmad mungkin akan mengatakan sesuatu, atau menunjukkan reaksi tertentu, lalu orang-orang akan mulai membicarakannya." [Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn:] Saya mendengar seorang laki-laki dari Khurasan berkata, "Di kampung halaman, orang-orang menganggap Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal bukan manusia. Mereka menganggapnya semacam malaikat." 19.5

“I didn’t want to read because Aḥmad might say something, or show some kind of reaction, and people would start talking about it.” [Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn:] I heard a man from Khurasan say, “Back home people think Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal isn’t human. They think he’s some kind of angel.” 19.5

Saya juga mendengar dari seorang laki-laki yang pernah berada di perbatasan bahwa orang-orang di sana berkata, "Satu pandangan dari Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal lebih baik daripada" atau "sama dengan" "ibadah setahun penuh." [ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm:] Ketika aku masih muda, suatu kali aku melihat kerumunan orang berlarian lewat dan bertanya ke mana mereka pergi. Mereka menjawab, "Ada seorang laki-laki di sini yang pernah melihat Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal!" 19.6

I also heard from a man who had been at the frontier that people there were saying, “One look from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal is better than”—or “equal to”—“a year’s worth of ritual devotion.” [ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm:] Once when I was young I saw crowds of people rushing by and asked where they were going. They told me, “There’s a man here who saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal!” 19.6

Saya bertanya kepada orang itu apakah dia benar-benar pernah melihat Aḥmad.

I asked the man if he had really seen Aḥmad.

"Aku shalat di masjidnya," jawabnya.

“I prayed in his mosque,” he replied.

[Al-Qūmisī:] Dua wanita Zoroastrian berselisih tentang sebuah warisan dan pergi kepada seorang ulama untuk meminta keputusan arbitrase. Ulama itu memutuskan melawan salah satu wanita, yang berkata, "Jika engkau memutuskan sesuai dengan apa yang akan dikatakan Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, aku menerimanya; jika tidak, aku tidak menerimanya." 19.7

[Al-Qūmisī:] Two Zoroastrian women had a dispute over an inheritance and went to a scholar for arbitration. The scholar ruled against one woman, who said, “If you’ve judged according to what Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal would say, I accept; otherwise I don’t.” 19.7

Ulama tersebut menjawab bahwa ia telah memutuskan sebagaimana Ibnu Hanbal akan memutuskan, dan wanita itu menerima keputusan tersebut.116

The scholar replied that he had ruled as Ibn Ḥanbal would have, and the woman accepted the judgment.116

Al-Marrūdhī berkata: "Aku pernah melihat seorang dokter Kristen keluar dari rumah Aḥmad bersama seorang pendeta, atau mungkin seorang rahib. Aku mendengar dokter itu berkata kepada seseorang, 'Dia meminta ikut denganku agar bisa melihat Aḥmad.'" 19.8

Al-Marrūdhī said: “I once saw a Christian doctor coming out of Aḥmad’s house with a priest or maybe a monk. I heard the doctor tell someone, ‘He asked to come with me so he could get a look at Aḥmad.’” 19.8

Al-Marrūdhī berkata: "Suatu ketika saya membawa seorang Nasrani ke rumah Aḥmad untuk diobati."

Al-Marrūdhī said: “I once brought a Christian to Aḥmad’s house to treat him.

“Aḥmad,” katanya kepadanya, “aku sudah bertahun-tahun berharap bisa bertemu denganmu. Kesejahteraanmu bukan hanya menjadi perhatian kaum Muslimin, tetapi juga semua orang yang lain. Engkau tidak pernah memberi alasan kepada siapa pun dari kami untuk mengeluh.” Aku berkata kepada Aḥmad, “Andai saja setiap orang di mana pun mendoakanmu.” “Selama seseorang mengenal dirinya sendiri,” jawabnya, “tidak ada bedanya apa yang dikatakan orang.” [ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAdī:] Aku mendengar Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṣayrafī berbicara kepada para murid mazhab Syāfiʿī sebagai berikut: “Perhatikanlah baik-baik apa yang terjadi pada Ḥusayn al-Karābīsī dan Abū Thawr. Ḥusayn terkenal karena ilmu dan daya ingatnya, yang sepuluh kali lipat lebih kuat daripada Abū Thawr. Namun ketika Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal menolak pandangan Ḥusayn tentang lafaz,117 Ḥusayn kehilangan reputasinya, dan ketika Aḥmad memuji Abū Thawr karena berpegang teguh pada sunnah, reputasinya justru meningkat.” 19.9

‘Aḥmad,’ he told him, ‘I’ve been hoping to meet you for years. Your well-being concerns not only the Muslims but everyone else as well. You’ve never given any of us cause for complaint.’” I said to Aḥmad, “If only everyone everywhere would pray for you.” “So long as a man knows himself,” he replied, “it makes no difference what people say.”[ ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAdī:] I heard Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṣayrafī addressing students of the Shāfiʿī system as follows: “Take careful note of what happened to Ḥusayn al-Karābīsī and Abū Thawr. Ḥusayn was famous for his learning and his powers of retention, which were ten times greater than Abū Thawr’s. But when Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal objected to Ḥusayn’s view of utterance117 Ḥusayn lost his reputation, and when Aḥmad praised Abū Thawr for sticking to the sunnah, his reputation grew.” 19.9

[Ibn Rāhawayh:] Suatu ketika saya pergi menemui ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir, yang berkata, "Saya belum pernah melihat yang seperti para Penunda ini!118 Mereka berkata, 'Iman saya sekuat iman Gabriel,' tetapi demi Allah saya tidak berpikir bahwa itu benar bahkan untuk mengatakan, 'Iman saya sekuat iman Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā, atau Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.'" 19.10

[Ibn Rāhawayh:] I once went to see ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir, who said, “I’ve never seen anything like these Postponers!118 They’ll say, ‘My faith is as strong as Gabriel’s,’ but by God I don’t think it’s right even to say, ‘My faith is as strong as Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā’s, or Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s.’” 19.10

[Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā:] Aku belum pernah melihat kedermawanan yang lebih bermakna daripada kedermawanan Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Aku biasa mendengar Hadis darinya di pagi hari lalu mendiktekannya kepada murid-muridku pada malam hari itu juga. 19.11

[Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā:] I’ve never seen generousity as meaningful as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s. I used to hear Hadith from him in the morning and dictate it to my students that same evening. 19.11

[Aḥmad:] Aku bepergian ke Sanaa di Yaman bersama Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. Kami tiba sekitar waktu salat Asar dan bertanya di mana rumah ʿAbd al-Razzāq. Mereka memberi tahu bahwa beliau tinggal di sebuah desa bernama al-Ramādah. Aku begitu ingin bertemu dengannya sehingga aku berjalan mendahului, sementara Yaḥyā tertinggal di belakang. Jaraknya tidak terlalu jauh dari Sanaa. Begitu aku bertanya, mereka langsung menunjukkan rumahnya. Namun ketika aku hendak mengetuk pintu, seorang pedagang bahan makanan di seberang jalan berkata, "Jangan mengetuk; sang syekh itu menakutkan." 19.12

[Aḥmad:] I traveled to Sanaa in Yemen with Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. We arrived around the time of the afternoon prayer and asked where ʿAbd al-Razzāq’s house was. They told us he lived in a village called al-Ramādah. I was so eager to meet him that I went on ahead, but Yaḥyā stayed behind. It wasn’t that far from Sanaa. As soon as I asked, they pointed out the house. But then when I went to knock on the door, a grocer across the street said, “Don’t knock; the shaykh is a terror.” 19.12

Maka saya duduk menunggu hingga hampir tiba waktu salat Maghrib. Ketika ʿAbd al-Razzāq keluar untuk salat, saya segera berdiri sambil mengulurkan beberapa hadis yang telah saya pilih.

So I sat down to wait until it was almost time for the sunset prayer. When ʿAbd al- Razzāq came out to pray, I jumped up, holding out some Hadith I had chosen.

"Assalamu 'alaikum!" kataku. "Maukah engkau membacakan ini untukku, kumohon? Aku sudah datang dari jauh." "Siapa engkau?" tanyanya.

“Peace be upon you!” I said. “Will you recite these for me, please? I’ve come a long way.” “Who are you?” he asked.

“Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” Ketika mendengar itu, ia berhenti dan merapatkan bahunya seolah hendak membuat dirinya lebih kecil. Kemudian ia berbalik dan memelukku. “Benarkah engkau Aḥmad?” tanyanya. Ia mengambil riwayat-riwayat hadis dan mulai membacanya, tidak berhenti sampai hari menjadi terlalu gelap baginya untuk melihat. Ia meminta lampu kepada pedagang bahan makanan dan terus membaca hingga waktu salat Magrib—yang biasanya ia kerjakan pada waktu paling akhir—telah berlalu.

“Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” When he heard that, he stopped and drew his shoulders together as if to make himself smaller. Then he turned back and embraced me. “Are you really Aḥmad?” he asked. He took the Hadith reports and started reading them, not stopping until it got too dark for him to see. He asked the grocer for a lamp and kept going until the time for the sunset prayer—which he usually performed at the last possible time—had passed.

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Setiap kali ayahku teringat bahwa ia pernah dipuji di hadapan ʿAbd al-Razzāq, ia pun menangis.

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Whenever my father recalled learning that he had been praised in the presence of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, he would weep.

[Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Ḥaṭṭāb:] Ketika banyak tokoh besar masih bersama kita, saya mengambil beberapa lembar kertas kecil dan menuliskan nama-nama mereka, masing-masing satu nama di setiap lembar: Aswad ibn Sālim, Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, dan seterusnya. Kemudian saya shalat dua rakaat dan memohon kepada Tuhan, Yang Mahaperkasa lagi Mahamulia, agar Dia memilihkan salah satu dari mereka sebagai teladan bagi saya. Saya mengocok lembaran-lembaran itu dan menyembunyikannya dari pandangan, lalu mengambil satu. Betapa gembiranya saya, ternyata yang keluar adalah Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Saya shalat dua rakaat lagi, berdoa kepada Tuhan, dan mengocok ulang lembaran-lembaran itu, dan lagi-lagi yang keluar adalah Aḥmad. Ketika saya mencobanya untuk ketiga kalinya, hal yang sama terjadi. 1913

[Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Ḥaṭṭāb:] Back when many of the great men were still with us, I took some slips of paper and wrote down their names, one on each slip: Aswad ibn Sālim, Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and so on. Then I prayed two cycles and asked God, mighty and glorious, to choose one for me as an exemplar. I shuffled the slips and put them out of sight, then picked one. To my delight, it turned out to be Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. I prayed two more cycles, invoked God, and reshuffled the slips, and again it came out Aḥmad. When I tried it a third time the same thing happened. 19.13