Muhammed b. Müslim: Ahmed b. Hanbel'e karşı, onunla bir konuda ihtilaf etmeye veya tartışmaya girmeyecek kadar heybetinden çekiniyorduk. 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

Bu, onun heybetli duruşu ve kendisine bahşedilmiş İslam'a bağlılığın ne kadar etkileyici ve ürkütücü olduğu nedeniyleydi.194

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

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Bridge-superintendent Al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad, who lived in my neighborhood, told me: "I have met Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm, and So-and-So, and So-and-So" — all of them men of authority — "but I never saw anyone as overpowering as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. I once went to speak with him about something, and the moment I saw him, I trembled." 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

Yanlarında istihbarat şefi olan el-Kelbî, bir gece kendisini görmeye geldi; ancak o ve adamları kapısını çalmaya çekindiler ve bunun yerine amcasının kapısını çaldılar. Ahmed, kapının çalındığını duyduğunu ve cevap verdiğini söyledi.

Al-Kalbī, the chief of intelligence, once came to see him at night, but he and his men were too intimidated to knock on his door and so knocked on his uncle’s door instead. Aḥmad said that he heard them knocking and answered.

[ʿAbdūs:] Ahmed bir keresinde beni gülerken gördü. Hâlâ bundan utanıyorum. 36.3

[ʿAbdūs:] Aḥmad once saw me laugh. I’m still embarrassed about it. 36.3

[Kāsim İbn Sellām:] Ebû Yûsuf, Muhammed İbnü'l-Hasan, Yahyâ İbn Saîd ve Abdurrahman İbn Mehdî ile oturdum, ama Ahmed İbn Hanbel ile oturduğum kadar heybet duymadım. O hapisteyken onu ziyaret etmeye gittim.

[Al-Qāsim ibn Sallām:] I’ve sat with Abū Yūsuf, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī, and I was never as intimidated as I was when I sat with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. When he was in prison, I went to visit him.

Biri bana bir soru sordu ama Aḥmad orada olduğu için cevap vermekten çekindim. 36.4

Someone asked me a question but with Aḥmad there I was afraid to answer it. 36.4

İbn Makram dedi ki: "Bu rivayeti Yaʿqūb ibn Shaybah'a anlattım, o da şöyle dedi: 'Muhtemelen Aḥmad'ın yanında hata yapmaktan korkmuştur.'"

Ibn Makram added: “I told Yaʿqūb ibn Shaybah this story, and he said, ‘He was probably afraid to make a mistake with Aḥmad there.’”