[Al-Būshanjī:] Pada tahun '27 [842], Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal mengajar Hadis secara terbuka di Baghdad. Itu berlaku sejurus selepas al-Muʿtaṣim meninggal dunia. Kami berada di Kufah ketika menerima berita itu. Saya pulang ke Baghdad dan sempat bertemu dengannya pada bulan Rajab tahun itu, ketika beliau masih mengajar. Kemudian, dengan tiga hari berbaki dalam bulan Shaʿbān, beliau berhenti atas kemahuannya sendiri. Pihak berkuasa tidak pernah menyuruhnya berhenti, tetapi al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd, yang ketika itu menjadi hakim di Baghdad, telah menulis surat kepada Ibn Abī Duʾād untuk memaklumkan bahawa Aḥmad sedang mengajar Hadis secara terbuka. Apabila Aḥmad mengetahui perkara ini, beliau berhenti tanpa perlu disuruh.

[Al-Būshanjī:] In ’27 [842], Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal taught Hadith openly in Baghdad. That was right after al-Muʿtaṣim died. We were in Kufa when we heard the news. I headed back to Baghdad and caught up with him in Rajab of that year, while he was still teaching. Then, with three days left in Shaʿbān, he stopped of his own accord. The authorities hadn’t told him to stop, but al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd, who was then judge in Baghdad, had written to Ibn Abī Duʾād to tell him that Aḥmad was openly teaching Hadith. When Aḥmad learned of this, he stopped without having to be asked.

Setakat yang kami ketahui, beliau tidak mengajar semasa pemerintahan al-Muʿtaṣim, yang berlangsung selama lapan tahun dan lapan hari. Selepas itu beliau tidak mengajar lagi sama sekali sehingga beliau meninggal dunia. 71.1

As far as we know, he had not taught during al-Muʿtaṣim’s reign, which lasted for eight years and eight days. After that he did not teach again at all until he died. 71.1