[Ṣāliḥ:] Baba yangu alipougua, alikubali wamhudumie. Ili kumweka joto wakati wa baridi, walikuwa wananunua mizizi ya vichaka vyenye miiba na kuiwasha katika chanja nyembamba ya makaa. 47.1

[Ṣāliḥ:] When my father got sick, he let them take care of him. To keep him warm in winter, they would buy thorn-bush roots and burn them in a narrow coal-pan. 47.1

[Al-Muṭawwiʿī:] Baba yangu aliripoti kwamba Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal hakula pudding kwa kijiko. Badala yake, alikuwa akiila kwa mkono wake. Pia alisema kwamba alikula mkate mwembamba wa bapa. 47.2

[Al-Muṭawwiʿī:] My father reported that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal didn’t eat pudding with a spoon. Instead, he would eat it out of his hand. He also said that he ate thin flatbread. 47.2

"Unajuaje?" nilimuuliza.

“How do you know?” I asked.

Mara moja nilikuwa nje ya mlango wake muda mfupi baada ya mwanawe Ṣāliḥ kuwa amemoka mkate kwa ajili yake. Mwombaji mmoja alikuja mlangoni akiomba, nao wakamtolea kipande cha mkate wa bapa. Nilifahamu kwamba Aḥmad lazima naye alikuwa anakula kitu kile kile, kwa kuwa Mtume ﷺ alisema: "Usitoe chochote usichokula."