[Ṣāliḥ:] Kila mara mtu alipomwombea baba yangu dua, yeye angesema, “Usimwite mtu mwenye baraka mpaka kazi yake iishe.” 56.1

[Ṣāliḥ:] Whenever someone said a prayer for my father, he would say, “Call no man blessed until his work is done.” 56.1

Mara nyingi nilimsikia akisema, “Mwenyezi Mungu atuokoe! Mwenyezi Mungu atuokoe!” Nilimsikia akisimulia kwamba alimsikia Yūnus ibn Muḥammad akisimulia kwamba alimsikia Ḥammād ibn Zayd akisimulia kwamba Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd alidai kwamba Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab alikuwa akisema, “Mwenyezi Mungu atuokoe! Mwenyezi Mungu atuokoe!” Pia nilimsikia akisimulia kwamba alimsikia Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb akisimulia kwamba alimsikia ʿAyyāsh ibn ʿUqbah akisimulia kwamba ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz mara nyingi alikuwa akisema, “Mwenyezi Mungu atuokoe! Mwenyezi Mungu atuokoe!” [ʿAbd Allāh:] Ninachotaka ni kutoka katika hili nikiwa sawa, bila kushinda wala kushindwa.295 56.2

I often heard him say, “God save us! God save us!” I heard him report that he heard Yūnus ibn Muḥammad report that he heard Ḥammād ibn Zayd report that Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd claimed that Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab used to say, “God save us! God save us!” I also heard him report that he heard Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb report that he heard ʿAyyāsh ibn ʿUqbah report that ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al- ʿAzīz often used to say, “God save us! God save us!” [ʿAbd Allāh:] All I want is to come out of this even, without winning or losing.295 56.2

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Nilimleta Ibrāhīm al-Ḥuṣarī, ambaye alikuwa mtu mwema, kukutana na Aḥmad. Ibrāhīm alimwambia kwamba mama yake alimwota ndoto kumhusu yeye na akasema jambo fulani kuhusu Peponi. "Ndugu yangu," alisema Aḥmad, "Watu walikuwa wakisema jambo kama hilo kuhusu Sahl ibn Salāmah, lakini yeye alienda mbele na kumwaga damu."296 Aliongeza, "Muumini anapaswa kufurahia ndoto lakini asizitegemee kamwe." 56.3

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I brought Ibrāhīm al-Ḥuṣarī, who was a righteous man, to meet Aḥmad. Ibrāhīm told him that his mother had dreamed of him and said something about the Garden. “Brother,” said Aḥmad, “People used to say the same kind of thing about Sahl ibn Salāmah, but he went on to shed blood.”296 He added, “A believer should find joy in dreams but never trust them.” 56.3

[Muḥammad ibn Ḥāzim:] Siku moja nilipokuwa kwa Aḥmad, mzee mmoja alikuja kumtembelea. "Aḥmad," alisema, "nimesikia watu wakizungumza juu yako na kusema kwamba wewe ni miongoni mwa walio bora." Aḥmad alimpuuza. 56.4

[Muḥammad ibn Ḥāzim:] Once when I was at Aḥmad’s an elderly man came to see him. “Aḥmad,” he said, “I overheard some people talking about you and saying you were among the best.” Aḥmad ignored him. 56.4

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Nilimsikia Aḥmad akisema, “Ninamuogopa Mwenyezi Mungu mno hata siwezi kula wala kunywa, na sasa sitaki kula kabisa.” 56.5

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I once heard Aḥmad say, “I’m too fearful of God to eat or drink, and now I don’t want to eat at all.” 56.5

Wakati wa mwisho wa ugonjwa wake, Aḥmad alihitaji kukojoa, akaomba beseni. Nilimletea moja, na nikaona mkojo wake ulikuwa mwekundu kung'aa. Nilipomwonyesha ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, mganga, alisema, "Huyo ni mtu ambaye utumbo wake umeraruliwa kwa wasiwasi," au "kwa huzuni." [Al-Marrūdhī:] Asubuhi moja nilimwendea Aḥmad kumwona na nikamwuliza hali yake. 56.6

During his final illness, Aḥmad needed to urinate, and called for a basin. I brought one, and saw that his urine was bright red. When I showed ʿAbd al-Raḥmān the healer, he said, “That’s a man with innards torn apart by worry”—or “by sorrow.” [Al-Marrūdhī:] One morning I went in to see Aḥmad and asked him how he was. 56.6

"Mtu anawezaje kuwa," alijibu, "huku Mola wake akimwekea wajibu, Mtume wake akimdai afuate sunnah, malaika wake wawili wakingoja matendo mema, nafsi yake ikitamani anachotaka, Shetani akimchochea kwenye tamaa, Malaika wa Mauti akitafuta uhai wake, na familia yake ikiomba fedha?"

“How can a man be,” he answered, “with his Lord imposing obligations, his Prophet demanding that he follow the sunnah, his two angels waiting for good deeds, his soul clamoring for what it wants, the Devil goading him to lust, the Angel of Death seeking his life, and his family asking for money?”