[Al-Hindibāʾī:] Nilikuwa nikitembelea kaburi la Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, lakini baadaye nikaacha. Baada ya muda fulani kupita, niliota ndoto ambapo sauti ilisema: "Umeacha kutembelea kielelezo cha sunnah." 94.1

[Al-Hindibāʾī:] I used to visit Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s grave but then stopped. After some time had passed, I had a dream where a voice said, “You’ve stopped visiting the exemplar of the sunnah.” 94.1

[Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan:] Baba yangu alininukulia kutoka kwa Abū Ṭāhir al-Maymūn akisema, "Mwanangu, nilikutana na mtu mmoja katika msikiti wa Ruṣāfah—hii ilikuwa mwezi wa Rabīʿ II 466 [Disemba 1073]—ambaye aliniambia nilipomuuliza kwamba alisafiri maili mia sita ili kuwepo hapo." 94.2

[Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan:] My father cited Abū Ṭāhir al-Maymūn as saying, “Son, I met a man in the Ruṣāfah mosque—this was in Rabīʿ II 466 [December 1073]—who told me when I asked him that he had traveled six hundred leagues to be there. 94.2

“‘Kwa nini?’ “‘Usiku mmoja wa Ijumaa nilipokuwa nyumbani,’ alisema, ‘niliota kuwa nipo jangwani, au katika nyika kubwa. Watu wote wa viumbe walikuwepo pale, milango ya Peponi ilikuwa wazi, na malaika walikuwa wakishuka. Malaika walikuwa wakiwavisha watu fulani nguo za kijani na kuruka nao kurudi juu. Niliuliza ni akina nani hao waliochaguliwa.’ “‘Ni wale waliomtembelea Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.’ “Mara tu nilipoamka, nilipanga mambo yangu na kuja hapa. Nimemtembelea mara kadhaa, na sasa ninarudi nyumbani, Mungu akipenda.” [Abū Bakr ibn Abruwayh:] Mjumbe wa Mungu ﷺ na Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal walinitokea katika ndoto. 94.3

“‘Why?’ “‘One Friday night back home,’ he said, ‘I dreamed I was in the desert, or in a great wilderness. All the people in creation were standing there, the gates of Heaven were open, and angels were coming down. The angels were dressing certain people in green and flying back up with them. I asked who the special ones were.’ “‘The ones who visited Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.’ “As soon as I woke up, I put my affairs in order and came here. I’ve visited him several times and now I’m going home, God willing.” [Abū Bakr ibn Abruwayh:] The Emissary of God and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal appeared to me in a dream. 94.3

"Mjumbe wa Mwenyezi Mungu," niliuliza, "huyu ni nani?" "Huyu ni Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, rafiki wa Mwenyezi Mungu na rafiki wa Mjumbe Wake ﷺ. Sikiliza, Abū Bakr! Kila siku Mwenyezi Mungu huangalia kaburi la Aḥmad mara sabini elfu, na humsamehe yeyote anayemwona hapo." Niliamka, nikaoga, nikasali rakaa mbili kwa shukrani kwa Mwenyezi Mungu. Kisha nikavua nguo zangu, nikazigawa kwa maskini, nikaanza safari ya kuhiji. Baada ya hapo nilitembelea kaburi la Aḥmad na nikakaa hapo kwa wiki moja.

“Emissary of God,” I asked, “who’s that?” “This is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, God’s ally and the ally of His Emissary. Listen, Abū Bakr! Every day God looks over at Aḥmad’s grave seventy thousand times and forgives anyone he sees there.” I woke up, washed, and prayed two cycles in gratitude to God. Then I took off my clothes, gave them away to the poor, and set off on the pilgrimage. After that I visited Aḥmad’s tomb and spent a week there.

[Abū Bakr al-Najjād:] Nilikuwa nimesikia kwamba mtu yeyote mwenye uhitaji anayetembelea kaburi la Aḥmad siku ya Jumatano na kuswali hapo atapokea riziki nyingi kutoka kwa Mwenyezi Mungu. Hivyo mara moja nilipokuwa na uhitaji, nilitembelea kaburi siku ya Jumatano. Nilikuwa njiani kurudi nikiwa na moyo wa huzuni nilipomwona mwanamke mzee akiniita kutoka mmoja wa makaburi. 94.4

[Abū Bakr al-Najjād:] I had heard that anyone in need who visits Aḥmad’s grave on a Wednesday and prays there will receive generous sustenance from God. So once when I was in need, I visited the grave on a Wednesday. I was on my way back in a dismal frame of mind when an old woman called out to me from one of the cemeteries. 94.4

"Abū Bakr!" alisema.

“Abū Bakr!” she said.

"Ni nini?" "Mama yako aliniachia mfuko na akaniambia kwamba nikikuona una uhitaji nikupe. Je, unauhitaji?" "Ndiyo," nilisema, nikaupokea. Ndani yake kulikuwa na— Kiasi hakipo, Mungu amjali mzee mwema aliyesimulia hadithi hii! [Abū l-Ḥasan al-ʿUkbarī:] Nilipokuwa mvulana nilisafiri kutoka ʿUkbarā hadi Baghdad bila pesa yoyote ya kutumia. Nilikaa msikitini ndani ya Mji wa Mviringo kwa siku kadhaa [“bila kula,” huenda aliongeza]. Siku ya Jumatano nilikwenda kuzuru kaburi la Aḥmad. Huko nilimkuta mtu aliyenisalimia—nilikuwa nimevaa nguo nzuri523—akaniuliza kama nina njaa. Nilipokaa kimya, alinipa mkate na dhahabu ya kutosha kuishi nayo kwa muda. Kwa muda fulani aliendelea kunifuatilia. 94.5

“What is it?” “Your mother left a bag with me and told me that if I saw you looking needy I should give it to you. Do you need it?” “Yes,” I said, and took it. In it was— The amount is missing, may God care for the worthy elder who transmitted the story! [Abū l-Ḥasan al-ʿUkbarī:] When I was a boy I traveled from ʿUkbarā down to Baghdad without any money to spend. I stayed in the mosque inside the Round City for several days [“without eating,” he may have added]. On Wednesday I went to visit Aḥmad’s tomb. There I found a man who greeted me—I was wearing fine clothes523— and asked me if I was hungry. When I said nothing, he gave me some bread and enough gold to live on for a while. For a while he continued to check on me. 94.5