Dalam bab tentang zaman kanak-kanaknya, kami mencatatkan bahawa Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal amat dihormati walaupun 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:] Saya pernah berkata kepada Aḥmad, "Ramai orang mendoakan kamu." "Itu menakutkan saya," katanya. "Ia boleh menjadi ujian yang membuatkan saya berasa terlalu tinggi tentang diri sendiri.

[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?" Saya pernah bertanya kepadanya bahawa saya pernah bertemu seorang lelaki dari Tarsus yang berkata bahawa dia telah berperang melawan Byzantine. Dalam kesunyian malam, katanya, orang-orang itu akan menjerit, "Berdoalah kepada Allah untuk Abū ʿAbd Allāh!" Dia meneruskan: "Kami akan menarik balik lengan mangonel112 dan kemudian melepaskannya. Sekali, kami melepaskan sebiji batu ke arah seorang barbarian113 yang berdiri di atas benteng di sebalik perisainya, dan batu itu meragut kepalanya serta perisainya sekali."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 berubah muram, lalu dia berkata, "Alangkah baiknya jika ia bukan satu fitnah!" Kemudian dia bertanya, "Adakah kamu fikir ia satu fitnah?" "Tentu tidak," jawab saya.

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 kaki di sepanjang Sungai Balkh selama beberapa hari apabila bekalan makanan kami habis, lalu dua orang daripada kami bertolak menuju ke 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.

Dalam perjalanan, kami bertemu seorang lelaki berambut perang dan berwajah kemerah-merahan 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.

Apabila kami memberitahunya bahawa kami dari Baghdad, dia bertanya, "Bagaimana khabar 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 sihat.” Lelaki itu mengangkat kepalanya dan berdoa kepada Tuhan untuk kesejahteraan Aḥmad.

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

"Sekarang saya sudah melihat segalanya," kata saya kepada sahabat saya. "Bahkan di sini, di sempadan Islam, di kalangan orang Turki!" [Al-Marrūdhī:] Pernah saya memberitahu Aḥmad bahawa seseorang telah berkata bahawa dari sini hingga ke negeri orang Turki, orang-orang sedang mendoakan kesejahteraannya. Saya bertanya kepadanya bagaimana dia menzahirkan rasa syukur atas kemasyhuran yang telah dikurniakan oleh 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 memberitahu kami, "Sekumpulan daripada kami berada di rumah Wahb ibn Jarīr. Aḥmad juga ada di situ. Dia meminta saya membaca,115 tetapi saya tidak membacanya." 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 mahu membaca kerana Aḥmad mungkin berkata sesuatu, atau menunjukkan sebarang reaksi, dan orang ramai akan mula memperkatakannya." [Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn:] Saya mendengar seorang lelaki dari Khurasan berkata, "Di kampung halaman kami, orang ramai menganggap Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal bukan manusia. Mereka menganggapnya seperti sejenis 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 daripada seorang lelaki yang pernah berada di sempadan, bahawa orang di sana berkata, "Satu pandangan daripada Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal lebih baik daripada" — atau "sama dengan" — "ibadat setahun." [ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm:] Pernah ketika saya masih muda, saya melihat orang ramai berlari-lari melintasi, lalu saya bertanya ke mana mereka hendak pergi. Mereka menjawab, "Ada seorang lelaki 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 lelaki itu sama ada dia benar-benar telah melihat Aḥmad.

I asked the man if he had really seen Aḥmad.

"Saya solat di masjidnya," jawabnya.

“I prayed in his mosque,” he replied.

[Al-Qūmisī:] Dua orang wanita Zoroaster berselisih tentang satu pusaka dan pergi kepada seorang ulama untuk minta diadili. Ulama itu memutuskan menentang salah seorang wanita tersebut, lalu dia berkata, "Jika engkau telah memutuskan menurut apa yang akan dikatakan Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, aku terima; 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 itu menjawab bahawa beliau telah membuat keputusan sebagaimana Ibn Ḥanbal akan memutuskannya, 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: "Pernah saya melihat seorang doktor Kristian keluar dari rumah Aḥmad bersama seorang paderi atau mungkin seorang rahib. Saya mendengar doktor itu berkata kepada seseorang, 'Dia meminta untuk ikut bersama saya supaya dapat 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: "Saya pernah membawa seorang Kristian ke rumah Aḥmad untuk merawatnya.

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

‘Aḥmad,’ katanya kepadanya, ‘saya telah lama berharap dapat bertemu dengan awak. Kesejahteraan awak bukan hanya menjadi perhatian kaum Muslimin, tetapi juga semua orang yang lain. Awak tidak pernah memberi sebab kepada sesiapa pun dalam kalangan kami untuk mengadu.’” Saya berkata kepada Aḥmad, “Alangkah baiknya jika setiap orang di mana-mana pun mendoakan awak.” “Selagi seseorang mengenali dirinya sendiri,” jawabnya, “tidak menjadi apa-apa perbezaan apa yang orang katakan.”[ ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAdī:] Saya mendengar Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṣayrafī menyeru para penuntut mazhab Shāfiʿī seperti berikut: “Perhatikan dengan teliti apa yang berlaku kepada Ḥusayn al-Karābīsī dan Abū Thawr. Ḥusayn terkenal dengan ilmunya dan kekuatan ingatannya, yang sepuluh kali ganda lebih hebat daripada Abū Thawr. Tetapi apabila Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal membantah pandangan Ḥusayn mengenai lafaz,117 Ḥusayn kehilangan kedudukannya, dan apabila Aḥmad memuji Abū Thawr kerana berpegang teguh kepada sunnah, kedudukannya pula semakin 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:] Saya pernah pergi menemui ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir, lalu beliau berkata, “Saya belum pernah melihat sesuatu seperti golongan Penangguh ini!118 Mereka berkata, ‘Iman saya sekuat iman Gabriel,’ tetapi demi Allah, saya tidak berpendapat adalah betul walaupun untuk berkata, ‘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:] Saya belum pernah melihat kemurahan hati yang lebih bermakna daripada kemurahan hati Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Saya biasa mendengar hadis daripadanya pada waktu pagi, lalu mendiktekannya kepada murid-murid saya pada petang 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:] Saya pergi ke Sanaa di Yaman bersama Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. Kami tiba sekitar waktu solat Asar dan bertanya di mana rumah ʿAbd al-Razzāq. Mereka memberitahu kami bahawa beliau tinggal di sebuah kampung bernama al-Ramādah. Saya begitu tidak sabar untuk berjumpa dengannya sehingga saya berjalan dahulu, manakala Yaḥyā tinggal di belakang. Tempat itu tidak jauh dari Sanaa. Sebaik sahaja saya bertanya, mereka menunjukkan rumahnya. Tetapi apabila saya hendak mengetuk pintu, seorang penjual barang runcit di seberang jalan berkata, "Jangan ketuk; syeikh itu sangat garang." 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

Jadi saya duduk menunggu sehingga hampir tiba waktu solat Maghrib. Apabila ʿAbd al-Razzāq keluar untuk solat, saya segera bangun, sambil menghulurkan beberapa hadith 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!" kata saya. "Bolehkah awak membacakan ini untuk saya? Saya sudah datang dari jauh." "Siapakah awak?" 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 mendengarnya, dia berhenti dan merapatkan bahunya seolah-olah ingin membuat dirinya kelihatan lebih kecil. Kemudian dia berpaling kembali dan memeluk saya. “Benarkah engkau Aḥmad?” tanyanya. Dia mengambil laporan-laporan Hadith dan mula membacanya, tidak berhenti sehingga hari menjadi terlalu gelap untuk dia melihat. Dia meminta kedai runcit itu sebuah lampu dan terus membaca sehingga waktu solat Maghrib, yang biasanya dia tunaikan pada saat akhir waktunya, 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 ayah saya mengingat kembali bahawa beliau pernah dipuji di hadapan ʿAbd al-Razzāq, beliau akan 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:] Semasa ramai orang-orang besar masih bersama kita, saya mengambil beberapa helai kertas kecil dan menulis nama-nama mereka, satu nama pada setiap helai: Aswad ibn Sālim, Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, dan seterusnya. Kemudian saya solat dua rakaat dan memohon kepada Tuhan, Yang Maha Agung lagi Mulia, supaya Dia memilihkan untuk saya seorang untuk dijadikan teladan. Saya mengacau helaian-helaian kertas itu dan meletakkannya di tempat yang tidak kelihatan, lalu saya mengambil satu. Kepada kegembiraan saya, ternyata ia ialah Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Saya solat dua rakaat lagi, memohon kepada Tuhan, dan mengacau semula helaian-helaian itu, dan sekali lagi ia jatuh pada Aḥmad. Apabila saya mencubanya kali ketiga, perkara yang sama berlaku. 19.13

[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