[Ṣāliḥ:] Ayah saya tidak pernah membenarkan sesiapa pun selain dirinya menimba air untuk wuduknya.

[Ṣāliḥ:] My father would never let anyone else draw the water for his ablutions.

Setiap kali timba itu naik penuh, dia akan berkata, "Segala puji bagi Tuhan!" 58.1

Whenever the bucket came up full, he would say, “Praise God!” 58.1

Saya bertanya kepadanya apakah sebabnya.

I asked him what the reason was.

"Anakku," jawabnya, "tidakkah engkau mendengar apa yang Tuhan firmankan? «Katakanlah, 'Terangkanlah kepadaku, jika air kamu menyusut ke dalam tanah, siapakah yang akan mendatangkan air yang mengalir bagimu?'»"298

“Son,” he replied, “haven’t you heard what God says? «Say, ‘Have you considered if your water were to sink into the ground, who could then bring you flowing water?’»”298

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Ayah saya dahulu biasa menunaikan tiga ratus rakaat setiap dua puluh empat jam. Selepas dia disebat, dia tidak lagi mampu melakukan sebanyak itu, lalu dia mula hanya menunaikan 150 rakaat. Pada waktu itu, umurnya hampir lapan puluh tahun. Setiap hari dia membaca satu pertujuh daripada Al-Qur'an, dan dengan itu dia menamatkan keseluruhan bacaan dalam masa seminggu. Maka setiap tujuh malam, dia telah menamatkan satu bacaan penuh Al-Qur'an, selain solat-solat wajib yang dia tunaikan pada waktu siang. Apabila selesai solat Isyak, dia akan tidur sebentar, kemudian solat sehingga waktu subuh. 58.2

[ʿAbd Allāh:] My father used to pray three hundred cycles every twenty-four hours. After he was flogged he could no longer manage so many, so he started doing only 150. At that time he was nearly eighty. Every day he’d read a seventh of the Qurʾan, finishing it all in a week, and so every seven nights he’d have completed a full reading of the Qurʾan in addition to the ritual prayers he’d performed during the daytime. When he’d finish the evening prayer he’d take a nap then pray until morning. 58.2

[Ibn al-Shāfiʿī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal pernah berkata kepada saya, "Ayahmu adalah salah seorang daripada enam orang yang saya doakan sebelum fajar."299 58.3

[Ibn al-Shāfiʿī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once told me, “Your father is one of the six people I pray for just before dawn.”299 58.3

[Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥusayn:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal pernah bertanya kepada saya tentang para ulama tua di Rey.

[Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥusayn:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once asked me about the elders of Rey.

"Bagaimana keadaan Abū Zurʿah, semoga Allah" — wait, per the rules, I must write "God" as the Malay word for God, not "Allah". So: "Bagaimana keadaan Abū Zurʿah, semoga Tuhan melindunginya?" 58.4

“How is Abū Zurʿah, may God protect him?” 58.4

"Dia sihat," kata saya.

“He’s well,” I said.

Beliau berkata: "Ada lima orang yang saya doakan pada setiap akhir solat." Beliau memberitahu saya siapa mereka: kedua ibu bapanya, al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Zurʿah, dan seorang lagi yang namanya saya telah lupa.

He said: “There are five people I pray for at the end of every prayer.” He told me who they were: his parents, al-Shāfiʿī, Abū Zurʿah, and one more whose name I’ve forgotten.

[Hilāl ibn al-ʿAlāʾ:] Al-Shāfiʿī, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, dan Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal pergi ke Mekah. Sebaik sahaja mereka sampai ke tempat mereka menginap, al-Shāfiʿī berbaring untuk berehat, begitu juga Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. Aḥmad pula terus berjaga untuk solat. 58.5

[Hilāl ibn al-ʿAlāʾ:] Al-Shāfiʿī, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal went to Mecca. As soon as they reached the place where they were staying, al-Shāfiʿī lay down to rest and so did Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. Aḥmad, on the other hand, stayed up to pray. 58.5

Keesokan paginya al-Shāfiʿī berkata, "Saya telah menyelesaikan seratus masalah hukum untuk kita umat Islam." "Apa yang kamu lakukan?" mereka bertanya kepada Yaḥyā.

The next morning al-Shāfiʿī said, “I’ve worked out a hundred legal problems for us Muslims.” “What did you do?” they asked Yaḥyā.

“Saya telah membantah seratus dusta yang diada-adakan ke atas Nabi ﷺ.” “Bagaimana pula dengan kamu?” tanya mereka kepada Aḥmad bin Ḥanbal.

“I’ve refuted a hundred lies told of the Prophet.” “What about you?” they asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.

Saya solat dua rakaat dan membaca keseluruhan al-Qur'an.300

“I prayed two cycles and recited the entire Qurʾan.”300

[Ibn Abī Hāshim:] Saya mendengar Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal berkata, "Saya pernah membaca seluruh Al-Qur'an dalam sehari dan menghitung berapa kali perkataan 'sabar' disebut. Jumlahnya lebih dari sembilan puluh."301 58.6

[Ibn Abī Hāshim:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “I’ve read through the whole Qurʾan in a day and counted how many times the word ‘fortitude’ comes up. It’s over ninety.”301 58.6

[Ṣāliḥ:] Ayah saya mempunyai sebuah kopiah yang dijahit sendiri olehnya, dilapik dengan kapas. Apabila dia berjaga malam untuk solat, dia akan memakai kopiah itu. Saya sering mendengarnya membaca Surah Al-Kahfi.302 58.7

[Ṣāliḥ:] My father had a cap he had sewed himself, lined with cotton. When he stayed up at night to pray he would wear it. I often used to hear him reciting the Chapter of the Cave.302 58.7

[Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Abī ʿAbd Allāh:] Ketika Aḥmad sedang melarikan diri daripada pihak berkuasa, dia bersembunyi di rumah Ibrāhīm ibn Hāniʾ. Saya mendengar Ibrāhīm meriwayatkan bahawa dia tidak pernah melihat seseorang yang lebih menahan diri, lebih bersungguh-sungguh dalam solat, atau lebih menguatkan diri daripada Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. 58.8

[Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Abī ʿAbd Allāh:] When Aḥmad was on the run from the authorities, he hid in the house of Ibrāhīm ibn Hāniʾ. I heard Ibrāhīm report that he never saw anyone deny himself so much, pray as earnestly, or push himself as hard as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. 58.8

“Dia akan berpuasa sepanjang hari,” katanya mengenang, “kemudian makan sedikit dengan cepat. Selepas solat Maghrib dia akan melakukan lebih banyak rakaat, kemudian tidur sebentar. Kemudian dia akan berwuduk dan terus solat sehingga fajar. Apabila fajar tiba, dia akan solat witir satu rakaat. Itulah rutinnya sepanjang masa dia tinggal bersama saya. Dia tidak pernah berhenti walau satu malam pun. Saya tidak mampu mengikutinya. Saya tidak pernah melihat dia berbuka puasa, kecuali pada suatu hari apabila dia berbekam, kemudian dia makan sesuatu.” [Ibrāhīm ibn Shammās:] Saya mengenali Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ketika dia masih kanak-kanak. Ketika itu pun dia sudah sering berjaga malam untuk solat. 58.9

“He would fast all day,” he recalled, “and then have a quick meal. After evening prayer he would do more cycles then take a nap. Then he would perform his ablutions and pray straight through until dawn. At dawn he’d pray a single witr cycle. That was his routine the whole time he stayed with me. He never let up for a single night. I couldn’t keep up with him. I never saw him break his fast, except one day when he had himself cupped and then ate something.” [Ibrāhīm ibn Shammās:] I knew Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal when he was a boy. Even then he’d stay up at night praying. 58.9

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Selepas ayah saya semakin tua, beliau memaksa dirinya untuk membaca al-Qur'an dengan lebih kerap dan bersolat lebih kerap di antara waktu zuhur dan asar. Setiap kali saya masuk ke biliknya, beliau akan berhenti solat. Kadang-kadang beliau bercakap dengan saya dan kadang-kadang beliau duduk diam. Jika beliau diam, saya akan meninggalkannya dan beliau akan kembali kepada solatnya. Ketika beliau bersembunyi, saya masih ingat melihat beliau menghabiskan sebahagian besar masanya membaca al-Qur'an. 58.10

[ʿAbd Allāh:] After my father grew old, he pushed himself to read the Qurʾan more and more often and to pray more frequently between the noon and late afternoon prayers. Whenever I went into his room he would stop praying. Sometimes he would talk to me and sometimes he would sit quietly. If he was quiet, I’d leave him and he’d go back to his prayers. When he was in hiding, I remember seeing him spend most of the time reading the Qurʾan. 58.10

[Al-ʿIjlī:] Kali terakhir saya melihat Aḥmad, dia keluar dan duduk bersama saya di sebuah ruang tunggu. 58.11

[Al-ʿIjlī:] The last time I saw Aḥmad, he came out and sat with me in an anteroom. 58.11

Saya berkata, "Saya ingat ada beberapa persoalan hukum yang sedang awak fikirkan. Adakah awak sudah mencapai sebarang jawapan?" "Inilah masanya untuk bersegera," katanya, "untuk hidup menurut hukum." Dia terus dalam nada itu sehingga kami bangun untuk pergi.

I said, “I remember there were some law questions you were thinking about. Have you reached any answers?” “This is the time to make haste,” he said, “to live by the law.” He continued in that vein until we rose to go.

[Al-Muʾaddib:] Saya melihat Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith solat empat rakaat selepas solat Jumaat tanpa memisahkannya dengan memberi salam selepas dua rakaat pertama. Tetapi saya melihat Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal solat enam rakaat selepas solat Jumaat dan memberi salam setiap dua rakaat.303 58.12

[Al-Muʾaddib:] I saw Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith pray four cycles after the Friday prayer without breaking them up by doing the salutation after the first two. But I saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal pray six cycles after the Friday prayer and do the salutation after every two.303 58.12

[Abū Bakr ibn ʿAnbar:] Pada suatu hari Jumaat, saya mengekori Ibn Ḥanbal ke masjid al-Manṣūr. Dia berdiri di sisi Kubah Penyair dan mula menunaikan solat sunat dua rakaat demi dua rakaat. Seorang pengemis datang dan berdiri di hadapannya, lalu Aḥmad memberi isyarat kepadanya dengan marah supaya pergi. Kemudian pengemis itu cuba melintas di hadapannya, lalu kami bergegas menghampirinya dan menariknya ke tepi.304 58.13

[Abū Bakr ibn ʿAnbar:] One Friday I followed Ibn Ḥanbal to the mosque of al- Manṣūr. He stood by the Poets’ Cupola and started praying supererogatory prayers two cycles at a time. A beggar came and stood in front of him, and Aḥmad gestured at him angrily to go away. Then the beggar tried to pass in front of him, and we rushed over and pulled him aside.304 58.13

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Apabila Abū Zurʿah tiba di Baghdad, dia menginap di rumah ayahku. Dia begitu sibuk membandingkan riwayat-riwayat dan sanad-sanadnya sehingga pada satu ketika ayahku berkata, “Hari ini yang aku kerjakan hanyalah solat fardu. Perbandingan bersama Abū Zurʿah ini telah menggantikan semua yang lain.” 58.14

[ʿAbd Allāh:] When Abū Zurʿah came to Baghdad, he stayed with my father. He kept him so busy comparing reports and their transmissions305 that my father said at one point, “Today all I’ve prayed is the ritual prayers. I’ve let all this comparing with Abū Zurʿah take the place of the rest.”306 58.14

[Ibn Hāniʾ:] Saya pergi bersama Aḥmad ke masjid Jumaat, lalu saya mendengarnya membaca Surah Al-Kahfi.307 58.15

[Ibn Hāniʾ:] I went with Aḥmad to the Friday mosque and overheard him reading the Chapter of the Cave.307 58.15