Aḥmad, semoga Tuhan merahmatinya, membeli seorang hamba sahaya perempuan bernama Ḥusn. 63.1

Aḥmad, God have mercy on him, bought a concubine named Ḥusn. 63.1

[Abū Yūsuf ibn Bukhtān:] Ketika Aḥmad meminta kami membeli hamba perempuan itu untuknya, Fūrān dan saya pun pergi. Semasa kami hendak berangkat, Aḥmad mengejar saya dan berkata, “Pastikan dia berisi sedikit daging.” 63.2

[Abū Yūsuf ibn Bukhtān:] When Aḥmad asked us to buy the girl for him, Fūrān and I went. As we were leaving, Aḥmad came after me and said, “Make sure she’s got some meat on her.” 63.2

[Zuhayr:] Selepas ibu ʿAbd Allāh meninggal dunia, Aḥmad membeli Ḥusn. Dia melahirkan Umm ʿAlī baginya, yang namanya Zaynab. Kemudian dia melahirkan al-Ḥasan dan al-Ḥusayn, yang merupakan kembar, tetapi mereka meninggal dunia sejurus selepas dilahirkan. Kemudian dia melahirkan Muḥammad dan al-Ḥasan, yang hidup sehingga kira-kira empat puluh tahun. Selepas mereka, dia melahirkan Saʿīd. 63.3

[Zuhayr:] When ʿAbd Allāh’s mother died, Aḥmad bought Ḥusn. She bore him Umm ʿAlī, whose name was Zaynab. Later she bore al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, who were twins, but they died soon after they were born. Then she bore Muḥammad and al-Ḥasan, who lived till about forty. After them she bore Saʿīd. 63.3

[Ḥusn:] Saya bertanya kepada guru saya sama ada saya patut menjual salah satu gelang kaki saya. Beliau bertanya sama ada saya benar-benar bermaksud demikian, dan saya menjawab bahawa saya memang bermaksud demikian. 63.4

[Ḥusn:] I asked my master whether I should sell one of my anklets. He asked if I really meant it, and I said I did. 63.4

"Segala puji bagi Tuhan," katanya, "yang telah membimbingmu membuat pilihan ini." Maka saya memberikan gelang kaki itu kepada anak Ṣāliḥ, Abū l-Ḥasan, yang menjualnya dengan harga lapan setengah dinar. Apabila saya mengandung, tuan saya membahagikan wang itu. Apabila saya melahirkan Ḥasan, dia memberikan sedirham kepada Karrāmah, seorang wanita tua yang berkhidmat kepada kami, dan menyuruhnya pergi kepada Ibn Shujāʿ, jiran kami yang merupakan seorang tukang daging, dan memberitahunya supaya mengambil wang itu dan membeli sebiji kepala. Dia membeli kepala itu, Karrāmah membawanya pulang, dan kami memakannya.

“Praise God,” he said, “who led you to make this choice.” So I gave the anklet to Ṣāliḥ’s son Abū l-Ḥasan, who sold it for eight-and-a-half dinars. When I got pregnant, my master distributed the money. When I had Ḥasan, he gave a dirham to Karrāmah—an old woman who served us—and told her to go to Ibn Shujāʿ—a neighbor of ours who was a butcher—and tell him to take it and buy a head.318 He bought the head, she brought it home, and we ate it.

"Ḥusn," katanya kepadaku, "yang tinggal padaku hanyalah dirham ini, dan inilah satu-satunya hari engkau akan mendapat apa-apa daripadaku."319

“Ḥusn,” he said to me, “all I have left is this dirham, and this is the only day you’ll get anything from me.”319

Setiap kali tiada wang di dalam rumah, tuanku gembira sepanjang hari.

Whenever there was no money in the house my master was happy all day.

Suatu hari dia masuk dan berkata bahawa dia memerlukan bekam tetapi tidak mempunyai wang. Maka saya pergi ke tempayan saya, mengeluarkan setengah mann320 kain tenunan yang saya simpan di situ, dan menghantarnya kepada salah seorang penenun, yang menjualnya dengan harga empat dirham. Saya menghabiskan setengah dirham untuk daging, dan dia menghabiskan satu dirham untuk bekam. Saya juga membeli sedikit minyak wangi dengan satu dirham lagi.

One day he came in and said he needed a cupping but had no money. So I went to my jar, took out half a mann320 of weaving I kept there, and sent it out to one of the weavers, who sold it for four dirhams. I spent half a dirham on meat, and he spent a dirham on the cupping. I also bought some perfume for another dirham.

Ketika tuanku keluar ke Samarra, saya menenun sehelai kain lembut dan menggunakannya untuk membuat sehelai jubah yang cantik. Apabila dia pulang, saya mengeluarkan jubah itu—ini setelah saya dibayar lima belas dirham untuknya daripada pendapatan sewaan321—tetapi apabila dia melihatnya, dia berkata, "Saya tidak mahu ini." "Tuan," kata saya, "saya ada barang-barang lain yang saya buat daripada kapas yang berlainan." Maka saya memberikan jubah itu kepada Fūrān, yang menjualnya dengan harga empat puluh dua dirham. Dengan wang itu saya membeli kapas dan menenunnya menjadi sehelai jubah besar. Apabila saya memberitahu Aḥmad, dia berkata, "Jangan potong—biarkan saja!" Akhirnya dia menggunakannya sebagai kain kafannya dan mereka membalutnya dengannya. Saya mengeluarkan kain kasar itu dan dia memotongnya.322

When my master went out to Samarra, I wove a length of soft cloth and used it to make a beautiful robe. When he came back I brought out the robe—this was after I’d been paid fifteen dirhams for it out of the rental income321—but when he saw it he said, “I don’t want it.” “Master,” I said, “I have other things I made from different cotton.” So I gave the robe to Fūrān, who sold it for forty-two dirhams. With that I bought some cotton and wove it into a large gown. When I told Aḥmad, he said, “Don’t cut— leave it be!” He ended up using it as his shroud and they wrapped him up in it. I took out the coarse material and he cut it.322

Sekali ketika dia sakit di penghujung hayatnya, saya membuatkan sesuatu untuknya.

Once when he was sick at the end I baked something for him.

"Di mana awak bakar ini?" tanyanya.

“Where did you bake this?” he asked.

"Di rumah ʿAbd Allāh," kataku.

“At ʿAbd Allāh’s,” I said.

"Bawalah itu," katanya, dan dia enggan memakannya.

“Take it away,” he said, and refused to eat it.

Setakat yang kami ketahui, Aḥmad hanya berkahwin dengan dua orang wanita—ibu Ṣāliḥ dan ibu ʿAbd Allāh—dan hanya mempunyai seorang gundik, yang riwayatnya telah kami nyatakan. Namanya ialah Ḥusn. Namun, dalam kitab beliau Virtues of Aḥmad,323 Abū l-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Munādī meriwayatkan bahawa Aḥmad meminta izin isterinya untuk membeli seorang gundik bagi mengikuti amalan Nabi ﷺ. Isterinya memberi izin, lalu beliau membeli seorang gadis berharga murah yang dinamakannya Rayḥānah, mengikuti sunnah Nabi ﷺ. Jika ini benar, beliau tentulah telah membeli dua orang hamba, salah seorang daripadanya semasa isterinya masih hidup.

[The author:] As far as we know, Aḥmad married only two women—Ṣāliḥ’s mother and ʿAbd Allāh’s—and had only the one concubine whose reports we have cited. Her name is Ḥusn. Yet, in his Virtues of Aḥmad,323 Abū l-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Munādī reports that Aḥmad asked his wife for permission to buy a concubine in order to emulate the practice of the Prophet. She gave her permission and he bought an inexpensive girl he named Rayḥānah, following the sunnah of the Prophet. If this is right, he must have bought two slaves, one during his wife’s lifetime.

Tetapi hanya Tuhan yang lebih mengetahui!324 63.5

But God alone knows best!324 63.5