[Al-Ṭarasūsī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal pernah menjatuhkan sebuah gunting kuku219 ke dalam sumur. Salah seorang penyewa tanahnya datang lalu mengeluarkannya. Aḥmad segera memberinya uang, kurang lebih setengah dirham. 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

“Gunting itu tidak bernilai lebih dari satu qīrāṭ,”220 kata orang itu. “Saya tidak akan mengambil apa pun.” Beberapa hari kemudian, Aḥmad bertanya kepadanya, “Berapa sewa yang masih harus kamu bayar untuk tokomu?” “Sewa tiga bulan,” kata orang itu, “dengan tiga dirham per bulan.”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

"Anggap sudah lunas," kata Aḥmad sambil mencoret catatan utangnya.

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

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī Ḥanīfah al-Muʾaddib menceritakan kepadaku, "Setiap kali aku datang menemui ayahmu, beliau sering memberiku sesuatu dan berkata, 'Ini adalah setengah dari apa yang kita miliki di rumah.' Suatu hari aku datang dan tinggal lama. Beliau mengeluarkan empat potong roti dan berkata, 'Ini adalah setengah dari apa yang kita miliki.' 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

"'Aku lebih suka empat ini darimu,' kataku kepadanya, 'daripada empat ribu dari orang lain.'" [Al-Warrāq:] Suatu ketika aku pergi menemui Muḥammad bin ʿAbdullāh bin Numayr untuk meminta bantuan. Ia memberiku empat atau lima dirham, seraya berkata, "Ini adalah setengah dari yang aku miliki." 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

Lain kali saya pergi menemui Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥanbal. Beliau mengeluarkan empat dirham dan berkata, “Ini semua yang aku punya.” [Al-Mustamlī:] Pernah aku memberitahu Aḥmad bahwa kami sudah tidak memiliki apa-apa lagi. Beliau memberiku lima dirham dan berkata, “Ini semua yang aku miliki.” [Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad sering membagikan makanan. Suatu hari, Abū Saʿīd al-Ḍarīr datang untuk meminta bantuan. 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

"Yang kupunya hanya batang pohon ini," kata Aḥmad, "bawalah seorang kuli angkut dan ambillah."222

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

Saya menjualnya seharga sembilan dirham dan dua dāniq.223

I sold it for nine dirhams and two dāniqs.223

Aḥmad memiliki watak yang paling baik dan rendah hati, dan selalu membuatnya gembira untuk memberikan sesuatu kepada orang lain.

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

[Al-Nasāʾī:] Suatu kali pada hari raya, Aḥmad mengundangku masuk. Aku pun masuk dan melihat sebuah meja dan sebuah piring berisi beberapa tulang yang diletakkan di atas nampan berkaki, serta sebuah periuk di sebelahnya. 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

“Silakan makan,” katanya. Melihat aku terlalu malu untuk ikut makan bersamanya, ia berkata, “Al-Ḥasan biasa berkata, ‘Mari kita makan, demi Tuhan!’ Dan Ibn Sīrīn biasa berkata, ‘Makanan memang ada untuk dimakan.’ Ibrāhīm ibn Adham biasa menjual sebagian pakaiannya dan menghabiskan uangnya untuk sahabat-sahabatnya. Bagi dia, hal-hal duniawi tidak lebih berharga dari itu,” sambil menunjuk sepotong batang pohon kurma yang terbuang.

“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.

Mendengar semua itu, aku merasa tenang dan makan.

Hearing all that, I relaxed and ate.

[ʿAlī ibn Yaḥyā:] Saya shalat Jumat di samping Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Setelah imam membubarkan jamaah, seorang pengemis berdiri dan meminta sedekah. Aḥmad menemukan sekeping uang dan memberikannya kepadanya. Lalu seorang laki-laki berkata kepada pengemis itu, "Aku akan memberimu satu dirham untuk uang itu." Ia terus menaikkan jumlahnya hingga akhirnya mencapai lima puluh dirham, sebelum pengemis itu berkata, "Aku tidak akan melepasnya. Aku menginginkannya karena alasan yang sama dengan yang kau inginkan!"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:] Saya bersama Aḥmad dalam perjalanan menuju Samarra ketika kami singgah di sebuah tempat peristirahatan. Saya mengeluarkan sepotong roti pipih dan meletakkan sebuah kendi air di hadapannya. Lalu seekor anjing datang. Ia berdiri di samping beliau dengan dua kaki belakangnya dan mulai mengibaskan ekornya. Beliau melemparkan sedikit makanan kepadanya. Tak lama kemudian, setiap kali beliau makan sesuap, beliau melemparkan sedikit makanan untuk anjing itu.

[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.

Khawatir jika terus begitu Aḥmad akan kelaparan, aku bangkit dan mengusir anjing itu. Lalu aku melihat Aḥmad memerah karena malu. "Biarkan saja," katanya.

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.

"Menurut Ibnu ʿAbbās, mereka memiliki jiwa yang jahat."225 42.7

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