[Abū Yūsuf:] Saya pernah mendengar Aḥmad berkata, "Ada tiga cara makan: bersama sahabat untuk bersenang-senang, bersama orang miskin dengan sedekah, dan bersama orang-orang duniawi kerana kewajipan." 32.1

[Abū Yūsuf:] I once heard Aḥmad say, “There are three ways to eat: with friends for pleasure, with the poor in charity, and with worldly men out of duty.” 32.1

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Saya mendengar Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal berkata, "Apa sahaja boleh menjadi mulia. Hati seseorang menjadi mulia apabila ia menerima kehendak Tuhan."181 32.2

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “Anything can be noble. A person’s heart is noble when it accepts God’s will.”181 32.2

[Ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz:] Pernah saya melihat al-Muṭīʿ li-Llāh 182 di atas mimbar cuba memenangi hati sekumpulan Ḥanbalī—kira-kira tiga puluh ribu orang—yang sedang memandang kepadanya. Dia berkata, "Saya mendengar guru saya Ibn Bint Manīʿ berkata bahawa dia mendengar Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal berkata, 'Apabila kawan-kawan seseorang meninggal dunia, dia akan jatuh martabatnya.'" 32.3

[Ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz:] I once saw al-Muṭīʿ li-Llāh 182 on the pulpit trying to win over a crowd of Ḥanbalīs—maybe thirty thousand—who were looking at him. He said, “I heard my teacher Ibn Bint Manīʿ say that he heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, ‘When a man’s friends die he comes down in the world.’” 32.3

[Ismāʿīl ibn al-ʿAlāʾ:] Saya menerima jemputan daripada Rizq Allāh al-Kalawādhī, yang menghidangkan kami dengan banyak makanan. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, Abū Khaythmah, dan beberapa orang lain turut hadir. Ketika tuan rumah menghidangkan sebatang penganan gulungan badam,183

[Ismāʿīl ibn al-ʿAlāʾ:] I accepted an invitation from Rizq Allāh al-Kalawādhī, who served us a great deal of food. Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, Abū Khaythmah, and some others were there as well. When our host presented an almond pastry roll183

itu telah menelan kos lapan puluh dirham, Abū Khaythamah berseru, "Itu satu pembaziran!" 32.4

that had cost him eighty dirhams, Abū Khaythamah exclaimed, “That’s an extravagance!” 32.4

“Tidak begitu,” kata Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. “Sekiranya harta dunia ini boleh dilipat menjadi sebiji bola kecil yang seorang Muslim boleh suapkan kepada Muslim yang lain, maka tidak akan ada sebarang kemewahan yang terlibat.”184

“No it isn’t,” said Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. “If only the things of this world could be folded up into a little ball that one Muslim could feed to another, there would be no extravagance involved.”184

"Bagus kata-katamu, Aḥmad," kata Yaḥyā.

“Well said, Aḥmad,” said Yaḥyā.

[Jaʿfar al-Ṣāyigh:] Salah seorang jiran Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal ialah seorang lelaki yang menjalani kehidupan penuh dosa dan kekotoran. Suatu hari dia datang ke tempat Aḥmad sedang duduk lalu memberi salam kepadanya. Aḥmad kelihatan menjauhkan diri daripada lelaki itu dan hanya membalas salamnya dengan tidak bersungguh-sungguh.

[Jaʿfar al-Ṣāyigh:] One of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s neighbors was a man who lived a life of sin and filth. One day he came over to where Aḥmad was sitting and greeted him. Aḥmad seemed to shrink away from the man and returned his greeting only halfheartedly.

32.5

32.5

“Tidak perlu berpaling daripada saya, Aḥmad,” kata lelaki itu. “Saya telah meninggalkan perkara-perkara yang awak lihat saya lakukan itu—semuanya kerana sebuah mimpi yang saya alami.” “Apa yang awak mimpikan? Mari ke sini!” “Saya bermimpi melihat Nabi ﷺ, semoga Tuhan memberkati dan memeliharanya, berdiri di atas sebuah bukit dengan ramai orang duduk di kakinya. Satu demi satu mereka bangkit dan memohon baginda mendoakan mereka, dan baginda pun mendoakan. Tidak lama kemudian, sayalah satu-satunya yang tinggal. Saya cuba untuk bangkit, tetapi saya terlalu malu dengan perbuatan-perbuatan buruk yang telah saya lakukan.”

“No need to turn away from me, Aḥmad,” said the man. “I’ve given up those things you’ve seen me do—all because of a dream I had.” “What did you dream? Come over here!” “I dreamed I saw the Prophet, God bless and keep him, standing on a sort of hill with a lot of people sitting at the bottom. One by one they got up and asked him to pray for them, and he did. Soon I was the only one left. I tried to get up, but I was too ashamed at the ugly things I had been doing.

“‘Hai kamu!’ kata Nabi ﷺ. ‘Mengapa kamu tidak bangun dan meminta saya ﷺ mendoakanmu?’ “‘Utusan Tuhan,’ jawab saya, ‘saya terlalu malu.’ “‘Jika kamu masih punya rasa malu,’ katanya, ‘bangunlah, dan jika kamu meminta, saya ﷺ akan mendoakanmu, kerana kamu tidak pernah mencela mana-mana sahabat saya ﷺ.’ “Maka saya pun bangun, dan baginda ﷺ mendoakan saya. Kemudian saya terjaga, dengan perasaan bahawa Tuhan telah menjadikan kehidupan lampau saya terasa menjijikkan bagi saya.” “Jaʿfar!” seru Aḥmad, memanggil saya, kemudian kepada yang lain yang hadir. “Kamu, dan kamu! Keluarlah dan ceritakan kisah ini, dan jangan lupakannya. Ia akan memberi manfaat kepada orang ramai untuk mendengarnya.” [ʿAmmār ibn Rajāʾ:] Saya mendengar Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal berkata, “Adalah amalan yang baik untuk mencari sanad yang setinggi mungkin bagi riwayat-riwayat kamu.”185 32.6

“‘You there!’ said the Prophet. ‘Why don’t you get up and ask me to pray for you?’ “‘Emissary of God,’ I answered, ‘I’m too ashamed.’ “‘If you can feel shame,’ he said, ‘you can get up, and if you ask me I’ll pray for you, since you’ve never cursed any of my Companions.’ “So I got up and he prayed for me. Then I woke up, feeling that God had made my past life hateful to me.” “Jaʿfar!” cried Aḥmad, calling out to me, and then to the others present. “You, and you! Go out and repeat this story, and don’t forget it. It will do people good to hear it.” [ʿAmmār ibn Rajāʾ:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “It’s a good practice to seek the highest possible authority for your reports.”185 32.6

[Ḥarb ibn Ismāʿīl:] Apabila ditanya tentang mencari sanad yang lebih tinggi, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal berkata bahawa ia merupakan amalan generasi ulama terdahulu. "Malah orang-orang yang mendengar hadis daripada ʿAbd Allāh, anak ʿUmar, akan mengembara dari Kufah kembali ke Madinah untuk belajar bersama ʿUmar dan mendengar hadis yang sama daripadanya." 32.7

[Ḥarb ibn Ismāʿīl:] Asked about seeking higher authority, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said that it was a practice of previous generations of scholars. “Even the people who heard reports from ʿAbd Allāh, the son of ʿUmar, would travel all the way from Kufa back to Medina to study with ʿUmar and hear the same reports from him.” 32.7

[Ḥanbal ibn Isḥāq:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal pernah melihat saya menulis dengan tulisan yang sangat kecil, lalu beliau berkata, "Jangan buat begitu; ketika kamu paling memerlukan untuk membaca apa yang telah kamu tulis, mungkin kamu tidak akan dapat membacanya." 32.8

[Ḥanbal ibn Isḥāq:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once saw me writing in a very small hand and said, “Don’t do that; when you most need to read what you’ve written, you might not be able to.” 32.8

[Al-Maymūnī:] Saya bertanya kepada Aḥmad tentang bacaan al-Qur'an mana yang sebaiknya saya gunakan. 32.9

[Al-Maymūnī:] I asked Aḥmad which reading of the Qurʾan I should use. 32.9

"Bacaan Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ," jawabnya. "Ia adalah bahasa kaum Quraisy dan para Sahabat yang paling jelas lafaznya." Isḥāq ibn Ḥassān berkata: "Aku menulis surat kepada Aḥmad meminta nasihatnya tentang perkahwinan. Beliau menulis, 'Kahwinilah seorang gadis dan pastikan ibunya sudah meninggal dunia.'" 32.10

“The reading of Abū ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAlāʾ,” he replied. “It’s in the speech of Quraysh and the Companions who had the clearest pronunciation.” Isḥāq ibn Ḥassān said: “I wrote to Aḥmad asking his advice on marriage. He wrote, ‘Marry a virgin and make sure her mother is dead.’” 32.10

Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Jaʿfar meriwayatkan bahawa Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal berkata kepada dua orang anaknya, "Buatlah senarai setiap orang yang datang untuk mengucapkan selamat tinggal ketika mereka pergi menunaikan haji. Apabila mereka pulang, kita akan pergi menyambut kepulangan mereka." 32.11

Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Jaʿfar reported that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal told his two sons, “Make a list of everyone who came to say good-bye when they went on the pilgrimage. When they return, we’ll go and welcome them back.” 32.11

Ibn ʿAqil mengulas bahawa Ibn Ḥanbal melakukan perkara itu bukan kerana kesombongan, tetapi untuk memelihara hubungan keilmuannya.

Ibn ʿAqil commented that Ibn Ḥanbal did this not out of pride but in order to keep up his scholarly connections.