[ʿUbayd al-Qāriʾ:] Ahmad ibn Hanbal'in amcası bir gün onu ziyarete gitti ve onu çenesini eline dayamış halde buldu. "Yeğenim," diye sordu, "seni ne üzüyor? Neden bu kadar kederlisin?" 55.1

[ʿUbayd al-Qāriʾ:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s uncle once went to see him and found him with his chin cupped in his hand. “Nephew,” he asked, “what’s troubling you? Why so glum?” 55.1

“Uncle,” Aḥmad replied, “happiness is when God makes sure that no one’s ever heard of you.” [Abū Ḥātim:] My father said, “All you had to do was look at Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal to see that he wasn’t trying to show off how ascetic he was. I saw him wearing sandals that didn’t look like the sandals that the Qurʾan-readers292 wear. The toe-end was big and curled back and the strap hung loose. They looked like something bought for him from the market. I also saw him wearing a breechclout and a striped gown of a skyblue color.”293 55.2

“Uncle,” Aḥmad replied, “happiness is when God makes sure that no one’s ever heard of you.” [Abū Ḥātim:] My father said, “All you had to do was look at Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal to see that he wasn’t trying to show off how ascetic he was. I saw him wearing sandals that didn’t look like the sandals that the Qurʾan-readers292 wear. The toe-end was big and curled back and the strap hung loose. They looked like something bought for him from the market. I also saw him wearing a breechclout and a striped gown of a skyblue color.”293 55.2

Bu şekilde giyinerek Ahmed'in, bir Kur'an okuyucusuna benzemekten kaçınmaya ve böylece dindarlık şöhretini yitirmeyi umduğunu düşünüyorum; ama gerçeği yalnızca Allah bilir.

By dressing this way Aḥmad was trying to avoid—or so I think, though God alone knows the truth—looking like a Qurʾan-reader, in the hope of losing his reputation for piety.

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Ahmed bir keresinde bana şöyle dedi: "ʿAbd al-Wahhāb'a söyle, ışığını bir kap altına saklasın. Şöhret bana sadece sıkıntı getirdi." 55.3

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad once said to me, “Tell ʿAbd al-Wahhāb to hide his light under a bushel. Fame has brought me nothing but suffering.” 55.3

[Al-Khallāl:] Onu şöyle derken işittim: “Yemin ederim ki bu şehirden çıkmanın bir yolunu bilseydim, çıkardım. O zaman kimse onlara benden bahsetmez, beni unuturlardı.”294

[Al-Khallāl:] I heard him say, “I swear that if I knew a way to leave this city, I’d leave it. Then no one would mention me to them, and they’d forget about me.”294

[İshak:] Bir gün Ahmed b. Hanbel'i sabah namazını kıldıktan sonra evine geri dönerken gördüm. İnsanlara, "Benim peşimden gelmeyin!" diyordu. 55.4

[Isḥāq:] I once saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal going back inside his house after praying the dawn prayer. He was telling people, “Stop following me around!” 55.4

[Ibn Hārūn:] Ahmed'in sokakta insanların kendisini takip etmesinden hoşlanmadığını hatırlıyorum. 55.5

[Ibn Hārūn:] I remember that Aḥmad didn’t like it when people followed him down the street. 55.5

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Babam cuma günleri dışarı çıktığında kimsenin onu takip etmesine izin vermezdi. Sık sık durup, takip edenler pes edip uzaklaşana kadar beklerdi. 55.6

[ʿAbd Allāh:] When my father went out on Fridays he wouldn’t let anyone follow him. He would often stop and wait until they gave up and went away. 55.6

[İshâk:] Ahmed ibn Hanbel'i yalnız başına, sanki hiçbir önemi yokmuş gibi yürürken gördüm. 55.7

[Isḥāq:] I saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal walking all by himself as if he were a man of no importance. 55.7