[Al-Khiraqī:] Saya mendengar Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal berkata, "Aku memaafkan al-Mu'taṣim atas cambukan yang dia timpakan kepadaku." 39.1

[Al-Khiraqī:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “I forgive al-Muʿtaṣim for flogging me.” 39.1

[Al-Ṣarrām:] Saya mendengar Ibrāhīm bin Isḥāq meriwayatkan bahwa al-Mutawakkil menyerahkan seorang pendukung ʿAlī yang telah menuduh Aḥmad kepada pemerintah, lalu mengirimnya kepada Aḥmad agar ia dapat memberikan rekomendasi hukuman baginya. Namun Aḥmad memaafkannya, seraya berkata, "Boleh jadi ia memiliki anak-anak yang akan bersedih jika ia dibunuh." 39.2

[Al-Ṣarrām:] I heard Ibrāhīm ibn Isḥāq report that al-Mutawakkil took the partisan of ʿAlī who had denounced Aḥmad to the government and sent him to Aḥmad so he could recommend a punishment for him. But Aḥmad forgave him, saying, “He may have children who would be grieved if he were killed.” 39.2

Itulah inti dari kisah tersebut.205

That was the gist of the story.205

[Ibn Hāniʾ:] Suatu ketika aku berada di rumah Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ketika seorang lelaki berkata, "Aḥmad! Aku pernah berbicara buruk tentangmu di belakangmu. Maukah engkau memaafkanku?" 39.3

[Ibn Hāniʾ:] I was once at Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s when a man said, “Aḥmad! I spoke against you behind your back. Will you forgive me?” 39.3

“Ya, asalkan kamu tidak mengulanginya lagi.” “Bagaimana mungkin kamu memaafkannya,” protesku, “padahal dia telah memfitnahmu?” “Tapi aku sudah memintanya untuk tidak mengulanginya lagi,” jawabnya. “Tidakkah kamu melihatnya?” [Ḥanbal:] Suatu kali, ketika aku sedang shalat Ashar bersama Aḥmad, seorang laki-laki bernama Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Khuttalī bergabung dengan kami. Setelah itu ia bertanya kepada Aḥmad mengapa ia menyuruh orang-orang untuk tidak berbicara dengan Zayd ibn Khalaf. 39.4

“Yes, if you don’t do it again.” “How can you forgive him,” I protested, “when he’s slandered you?” “But I’ve asked him not to do it again,” he answered. “Didn’t you see?” [Ḥanbal:] Once, when I was performing the afternoon prayer with Aḥmad, a man named Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Khuttalī joined us. Afterward he asked Aḥmad why he had told people not to talk to Zayd ibn Khalaf. 39.4

“Orang-orang di perbatasan menulis surat menanyakan tentang dia,” jawab Aḥmad. “Saya menceritakan kepada mereka tentang pendapat-pendapatnya dan tentang hal-hal luar biasa yang telah ia katakan, dan saya meminta mereka agar tidak duduk bersamanya.” Al-Khuttalī naik pitam. “Demi Tuhan, saksiku,” teriaknya, “akan kupastikan kau dilemparkan kembali ke penjara!” Ia terus berteriak, mengatakan hal-hal seperti, “Akan kupatahkan tulang rusukmu satu per satu!” “Jangan katakan apa-apa,” kata Aḥmad kepadaku, “dan jangan repot-repot menjawabnya.” Maka tak seorang pun berkata apa-apa. Aḥmad mengambil sandalnya, bangkit, dan masuk ke dalam.

“The people at the frontier wrote asking about him,” replied Aḥmad. “I told them about his opinions and about the unprecedented things he had said, and I asked them not to sit with him.” Al-Khuttalī flew into a rage. “As God is my witness,” he shouted, “I’ll have you thrown back in prison!” He kept on shouting, saying things like, “I’ll break your ribs one by one!” “Don’t say anything,” Aḥmad told me, “and don’t bother answering him.” So no one said anything. Aḥmad picked up his sandals, rose, and went inside.

"Beritahu para penyewa agar tidak berdebat dengannya," katanya.

“Tell the tenants not to argue with him,” he said.

Al-Khuttalī terus berteriak untuk beberapa waktu dan akhirnya pergi. Ia kemudian diangkat sebagai pengawas pasar di Samarra dan meninggal di sana.

Al-Khuttalī went on shouting for a while and finally left. He was made market inspector in Samarra and died there.

Aḥmad dan aku pernah berjalan pulang dari masjid Jumat ketika aku menyebut Abū Ḥanīfah. Ia mengibaskan tangannya dengan remeh. 39.5

[Al-Ājurrī:] Aḥmad and I were once walking back from the Friday mosque when I mentioned Abū Ḥanīfah. He waved his hand dismissively. 39.5

“Air kencing Abū Ḥanīfah,” kataku, “lebih berharga daripada dunia yang penuh orang seperti kamu!” Ia menatapku, lalu berkata, “Selamat tinggal.”206

“Abū Ḥanifah’s piss,” I said, “was worth more than a world full of people like you!” He looked at me, then said, “Good-bye.”206

Keesokan paginya, saya pergi menemuinya dan berkata, "Ahmad, saya tidak bermaksud mengatakan apa yang saya katakan. Maukah engkau memaafkan saya?" Ia menjawab, "Aku sudah memaafkanmu ketika engkau masih berdiri di sana."

Early the next morning, I went to him and said, “Aḥmad, I didn’t mean to say what I said. Will you forgive me?” “I forgave you while I was standing there,” he replied.

[Al-Ḥarbī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal selalu tampak tahu apa yang harus dilakukan. Ia memiliki kesabaran dan pemahaman yang sangat besar. Suatu hari seorang laki-laki datang kepadanya dan berkata, "Apakah engkau memiliki kitab-kitab yang mengandung bid'ah?"207 39.6

[Al-Ḥarbī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal always seemed to know the right thing to do. He had an enormous reserve of patience and understanding. One day a man came to him and said, “Do you have any books with heresy in them?”207 39.6

Aḥmad duduk diam sejenak, lalu berkata, "Tempat yang aman bagi seorang mukmin hanyalah kubur." Di lain waktu, seseorang berkata kepadanya, "Orang-orang mengatakan bahwa engkau tidak pernah mendengar hadis dari Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd," dan ia sama sekali tidak menjawab.

Aḥmad sat silent for a time then said, “The only place a believer is safe is in the grave.” Another time someone said to him, “People say you never heard Hadith from Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd,” and he made no reply at all.

Ibrāhīm juga meriwayatkan: 39.7

Ibrāhīm also reported: 39.7

“Suatu hari kami berada di rumah Dāwūd ibn ʿAmr, lalu Dāwūd bertanya kepadanya, ‘Aḥmad, bagaimana keadaan makanmu belakangan ini? Dan tidurmu? Lalu bagaimana dengan urusan hubungan suami istri?’ “Aḥmad menjawab, ‘Aku tidak punya rasa benci terhadap wanita, dan aku memiliki tubuh sekaligus jiwa.’ “Ia menolak untuk mengatakan lebih dari itu.”

“One day we were at Dāwūd ibn ʿAmr’s and Dāwūd asked him, ‘Aḥmad, how are you eating these days? And sleeping? And what about sex?’ “Aḥmad replied, ‘I have no aversion to women, and I have a body as well as a spirit.’ “He refused to say any more.”