[Al-Būshanjī:] 有一次,艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒在为我们口述圣训时,一位来自马尔夫的名叫阿布·雅古卜的人向他询问某段圣训。艾哈迈德吩咐他的儿子阿卜杜拉进屋去取《有用要点》一书。阿卜杜拉把书取了出来,艾哈迈德翻看了一阵,却没有找到他所要的那段记载。于是他起身离开清真寺,走进屋里。不久之后,他抱着一叠纸页回来,坐下开始翻阅。过了一会儿,先前提问的那个人说:“算了吧,艾哈迈德!这太麻烦了。”26.1

[Al-Būshanjī:] Once when Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was dictating for us, a man from Marv named Abū Yaʿqūb asked him about a Hadith. Aḥmad told his son ʿAbd Allāh to go inside and get the Book of Useful Points.155 ʿAbd Allāh brought it out and Aḥmad looked through it, but he couldn’t find the report he wanted. So he got up, left his mosque and went inside the house.156 A short time later, he came back carrying a stack of quires, sat down, and started looking through them. After a while, the man who had asked the question said, “Never mind, Aḥmad! This is too much trouble.” 26.1

“不，不是那样的，”他回答说，“是我需要知道。”我们这才明白，他已经进到屋里，把他认为那份报告可能在的每一叠纸都翻看了一遍。而他又不想一直待在屋里找报告，于是便把那些文件拿到了外面，免得显得他为此费了多大周折。很难想象还有比这更好的待人之礼的例子。

“No it isn’t,” he replied. “It’s me who needs to know.” We realized that he had gone into the house and looked at every quire where he thought the report might be, and then—because he didn’t want to stay inside looking for the report—he had brought the papers out so that it wouldn’t seem as if he were putting himself to a lot of trouble. It’s hard to imagine a better example of courtesy.

[Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī:] 我第一次见到艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒是在213年，我看见他带着《信仰之书》157和《饮品之书》158出门去做拜功。他做完拜功后便坐着等候，但没有人向他提问，于是他又把书带了回去。另一天，我又看到他把书拿了出来。我猜想他随身携带这两本特定书籍的原因是：《信仰之书》是宗教的根基，而《饮品之书》旨在使人远离恶行——因为醉酒是一切罪恶之源。159 26.2

[Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī:] When I first met Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, in 213, I saw him go out to the ritual prayer carrying the Book of Belief 157 and the Book of Drinks.158 He finished praying and waited, but no one asked him a question so he took the books back with him. Another day, I saw that he had taken them out again. I suspect that his reason for having those particular books with him was that the Book of Belief provides the basis of religion and the Book of Drinks is about turning people away from bad things—since drunkenness is the root of all evil.159 26.2

[Al-Marrūdhī:] 艾哈迈德曾经接待过阿布·阿拉尼·仆人（Abū l-ʿAlāʾ the Servant）的来访。他是一位谦逊的老人，卷着袖子和裤腿四处走动，看上去像个诵读《古兰经》的人。当他到达清真寺大门时，艾哈迈德出来迎接他。26.3

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad once had a visit from Abū l-ʿAlāʾ the Servant,160 who was a humble old man who went around with his sleeves and pant legs rolled up161 looking like a Qurʾan-reader. When he arrived at the gate of the mosque, Aḥmad came out to welcome him. 26.3

清真寺里也碰巧有一个陌生人：一个衣衫褴褛、身边带着书写用具的男子。他刚坐下，艾哈迈德恰好环顾四周。一看见这个陌生人，他便对阿布·阿拉厄说：“我可不希望你在外面被晒着。”阿布·阿拉厄便站起身，离开了。

It so happened that there was also a stranger in the mosque: a man dressed in rags and carrying a writing kit. As he sat down, Aḥmad happened to look around. As soon as he noticed the stranger, he said to Abū l-ʿAlāʾ, “I wouldn’t want you to get caught outside in the heat,” and Abū l-ʿAlāʾ got up and left.

接着,艾哈迈德开始不时地望向那个陌生人,期待他提出问题,但那人一言不发。最后艾哈迈德问道:"我能帮你做什么吗?" "教我一些真主所教导你的知识吧。" 艾哈迈德起身走进屋里,拿着几本书回来。"到这边来。"他说,然后开始向那人口述圣训,每说几句便停下来,说道:"把你记下的内容读给我听。"

Then Aḥmad began looking over at the stranger expecting him to ask a question, but the man said nothing. Finally Aḥmad asked, “Can I help you?” “Teach me some of what God has taught you.” Aḥmad rose, went inside, and came back with some books. “Come over here,” he said, then began dictating Hadith to the man, stopping to say, “Read back what you’ve written down.”