[Al-Dārimī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal alinitumia barua siku moja, akisema: "Kwa Abū Jaʿfar—Mungu akupe neema!—kutoka kwa Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal." 34.1

[Al-Dārimī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once addressed a letter to me as follows: “To Abū Jaʿfar—God grace you!—from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” 34.1

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad alikuwa akisema kwamba neno "to" katika anwani linapaswa kuwa "ilā" na si "li-", na alikuwa akiandika barua zake kwa kufuata hilo.192 34.2

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad used to say that the word “to” in addresses should be ilā and not li-, and addressed his letters accordingly.192 34.2

[Saʿid ibn Yaʿqūb:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal aliniandikia barua ifuatayo: 34.3

[Saʿid ibn Yaʿqūb:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal wrote me the following letter: 34.3

Kwa jina la Mwenyezi Mungu, Mwingi wa rehema, Mwenye kurehemu daima. Kutoka kwa Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad kwenda kwa Saʿid ibn Yaʿqūb. Basi, tamaa ya mambo ya dunia hii ni aina moja ya ugonjwa, na tamaa ya madaraka ya kidunia ni aina nyingine. Mtu mwenye elimu, kwa upande mwingine, ni tabibu. Lakini ukiwahi kumwona tabibu akijiletea ugonjwa mwenyewe, mkwepe.

In the name of God, full of compassion, ever compassionate From Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad to Saʿid ibn Yaʿqūb Now then: desire for the things of this world is one kind of sickness, and desire for earthly power is another. The man of learning, on the other hand, is a physician. But if you ever see a physician bringing sickness on himself, avoid him.

Amani iwe kwenu! [Ḥanbal:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal alikuwa akiandika barua kwa kuanza kwa kusema kutoka kwa Fulani kwenda kwa Fulani. Nilipomuuliza kwa nini, alisema, "Nabii ﷺ aliandikia Kisra na Kaisari, na barua zake nyingine zote, kwa njia hiyo. Hivyo ndivyo walivyofanya pia Maswahaba wake, kama vile 'Umar—Mungu awe radhi naye—alipomwandikia 'Utbah ibn Farqad. Na leo ndivyo ninavyomwandikia mwanazuoni wa Hadith nisiyemjua." 34.4

Peace to you! [Ḥanbal:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal used to address letters by writing from So-and-So to So-and-So. When I asked him why, he said, “The Prophet, God bless and keep him, wrote to Chosroes and Caesar, and all his other letters, that way. So did his Companions, as when ʿUmar—God be pleased with him—wrote to ʿUtbah ibn Farqad. And today that’s how I write to a Hadith scholar I don’t know.” 34.4

"Kwa hiyo unajitaja wewe mwenyewe kwanza?" "Ikiwa unaandika kwa baba yako, ni bora kuweka jina lake kwanza badala ya lako, na vivyo hivyo ukiandika kwa mtu mzee. Vinginevyo ni sawa." [Ibn Manīʿ:] Nilitaka kwenda kusoma kwa Suwayd ibn Saʿīd, nikamwomba Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal aniandikie barua kwake. Basi akaandika barua ikinieleza kuwa mimi ni "mtu anayeandika Hadith." 34.5

“So you mention yourself first?” “If you’re writing to your father, it’s better to put his name first instead of yours, and the same if you’re writing to someone old. Otherwise it’s fine.” [Ibn Manīʿ:] I wanted to go study with Suwayd ibn Saʿīd and I asked Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal if he would write to him for me. So he wrote a letter describing me as “a man who writes down Hadith.” 34.5

"Aḥmad," nilipinga, "fikiria muda gani nimekutumikia. Je, huwezi kuandika kwamba mimi ni mtu wa Hadith?" "Mtu wa Hadith," alisema, "ndiye ninayemwita mtu anayetekeleza Hadith kwa vitendo."

“Aḥmad,” I protested, “think how long I’ve served you. Couldn’t you write that I’m a Hadith-man?” “A Hadith-man,” he said, “is what I call someone who puts Hadith into practice.”