[Muḥammad ibn Muslim:] Tulikuwa tukimheshimu sana Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal mpaka tukashindwa kumpinga au kubishana naye juu ya jambo lolote. 36.1

[Muḥammad ibn Muslim:] We were too much in awe of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal to disagree with him or argue with him about anything. 36.1

Hii ilitokana na jinsi alivyokuwa na heshima na ukali wa kuvutia, pamoja na bidii yake ya ibada ya Uislamu aliyojaliwa nayo.194

This was because of how imposing he was, and how intimidating the devotion to Islam he had been blessed with.194

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad, msimamizi wa daraja, aliyeishi katika mtaa wangu, aliniambia: “Nilikutana na Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm, na Fulani, na Fulani”—wote hao ni watu wenye mamlaka—“lakini sikuwahi kumwona mtu mwenye heshima na nguvu kubwa kama Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. Mara moja nilimwendea kuzungumza naye juu ya jambo fulani, na mara tu nilipomwona, nilitetemeka.” 36.2

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad, the superintendent of the bridge, who lived in my neighborhood, told me, “I’ve met Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm, and So-and-So, and Soand- So”—all of them men of authority—“but I never saw anyone as overpowering as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. I once went to talk to him about something, and the moment I saw him, I shuddered.” 36.2