在关于他童年的那一章中，我们提到艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒即便在年少时就备受推崇。191

In the chapter about his childhood, we noted that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was highly regarded even as a youth. 19.1

【阿尔-马鲁迪】：我曾对艾哈迈德说：“有很多人为你祈祷。”他说：“这让我感到害怕。这可能会成为一种诱惑，让我自视过高。”

[Al-Marrūdhī:] I once said to Aḥmad, “There are a lot of people praying for you.” “That frightens me,” he said. “It could be a temptation to think highly of myself.

“为什么他们要这样做？”我曾对他说，我遇到过一个来自塔尔苏斯的人，那人说自己一直在与拜占庭人作战。他告诉我，在寂静的夜里，士兵们会高喊：“为阿布·阿卜杜拉祈祷真主吧！”他接着说：“我们拉回投石机的臂杆，然后松开。有一次，我们把一块石头射向一个躲在盾牌后面、站在城垛上的野蛮人，石头把他的头和盾牌一起打飞了。”114

Why do they do it?” I once told him that I had met a man from Tarsus who said that he had been fighting the Byzantines. In the still of the night, he told me, the men would call out “Pray to God for Abū ʿAbd Allāh!” He went on: “We would pull back the arm of the mangonel112 and then release it. Once we shot a stone at a barbarian113 standing on a rampart behind his shield, and the stone knocked off his head and the shield both.”114

艾哈迈德的脸色沉了下来，他说：“要是它不是一种考验就好了！”接着他又说：“你觉得它是一种考验吗？”“当然不是。”我回答道。

Aḥmad’s face fell, and he said, “If only it weren’t a temptation!” Then he said, “Do you think it’s a temptation?” “Of course not,” I answered.

[Al-Abbār:] 我们沿着巴尔赫河行军了好几天，粮食却耗尽了，于是我们两人前往布哈拉去买些吃的。

[Al-Abbār:] We’d been marching along the Balkh River for several days when our provisions ran out, so two of us headed off toward Bukhārā to buy something to eat.

在路上，我们遇到一个金发、脸色通红的男人，他问我们从哪里来。

On the way we met a blond-haired, red-faced man who asked us where we were from.

当我们告诉他我们来自巴格达时，他问道：“艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒怎么样？”19.2

When we told him we were from Baghdad, he asked, “How is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?” 19.2

“我们离开时，他还活着，身体康健。”那人抬起头，为艾哈迈德的平安向真主祈祷。

“When we left, he was alive and well.” The man raised his head and prayed to God for Aḥmad’s well-being.

“现在我算是见识到了，”我对同伴说，“连这里，伊斯兰的边疆，在突厥人之中，都是如此！”[Al-Marrūdhī：]我曾对艾哈迈德说，有人告诉我，从这里直到突厥人的土地，人们都在为他的平安祈祷。我问他，对于真主所赐予他的这份声望，他是如何感恩的。19.3

“Now I’ve seen it all,” I said to my companion. “Even here, on the frontier of Islam, among the Turks!” [Al-Marrūdhī:] I once told Aḥmad that someone had said that from here as far as the land of the Turks, people were praying for his well-being. I asked him how he showed his gratitude for the popularity God had blessed him with. 19.3

“我祈求真主，让我不为了做给人看而做任何事。”他说。

“I pray to God that I do nothing for the sake of appearances,” he said.

[ʿAbd Allāh:] 比拉勒和我去拜访穆罕默德·本·赛义德·提尔米迪，他告诉我们："我们一群人在瓦赫卜·本·贾里尔那里。艾哈迈德也在场。他让我读，但我没有读。" 19.4

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Bilāl and I went to see Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Tirmidhī, who told us, “A group of us were at Wahb ibn Jarīr’s. Aḥmad was there too. He asked me to read,115 but I didn’t.” 19.4

我们问他为什么不这样做。

We asked him why not.

“我不想在那里朗读，因为艾哈迈德可能会说些什么，或者表现出某种反应，然后人们就会开始议论。”[艾哈迈德·本·侯赛因：]我听一个呼罗珊人说：“在我们家乡，人们认为艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒不是人，他们觉得他是某种天使。” 19.5

“I didn’t want to read because Aḥmad might say something, or show some kind of reaction, and people would start talking about it.” [Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn:] I heard a man from Khurasan say, “Back home people think Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal isn’t human. They think he’s some kind of angel.” 19.5

我还从一个曾在边境驻守的人那里听说，当地人都在说：“艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒的一瞥，胜过（或等同于）一年的拜功。”[阿里·伊本·加赫姆：]我年少时曾见人群匆匆跑过，便问他们要去哪里。他们告诉我：“这里有个人见过艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒！”19.6

I also heard from a man who had been at the frontier that people there were saying, “One look from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal is better than”—or “equal to”—“a year’s worth of ritual devotion.” [ʿAlī ibn al-Jahm:] Once when I was young I saw crowds of people rushing by and asked where they were going. They told me, “There’s a man here who saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal!” 19.6

我问那个人，他是否真的见过艾哈迈德。

I asked the man if he had really seen Aḥmad.

“我在他的清真寺里礼过拜。”他回答道。

“I prayed in his mosque,” he replied.

[Al-Qūmisī:] 两名拜火教妇女因一桩遗产发生争执，于是前往一位学者处请求仲裁。学者判决不利于其中一名妇女，她说："如果你是依照艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒的说法作出判决，我就接受；否则我不接受。"19.7

[Al-Qūmisī:] Two Zoroastrian women had a dispute over an inheritance and went to a scholar for arbitration. The scholar ruled against one woman, who said, “If you’ve judged according to what Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal would say, I accept; otherwise I don’t.” 19.7

学者回答说，他的裁决与伊本·罕百里的裁决相同，那名妇人接受了这一判决。116

The scholar replied that he had ruled as Ibn Ḥanbal would have, and the woman accepted the judgment.116

穆尔祖尼说："我曾看见一位基督教医生和一位神父或修士一同从艾哈迈德的家里出来。我听见那位医生对某人说：‘他请求跟我一起来，是为了能看一看艾哈迈德。’"19.8

Al-Marrūdhī said: “I once saw a Christian doctor coming out of Aḥmad’s house with a priest or maybe a monk. I heard the doctor tell someone, ‘He asked to come with me so he could get a look at Aḥmad.’” 19.8

阿勒-马鲁兹（Al-Marrūdhī）说："我曾经带一位基督教徒到艾哈迈德的家里为他治疗。

Al-Marrūdhī said: “I once brought a Christian to Aḥmad’s house to treat him.

“艾哈迈德，”他对他说，“这些年来我一直希望能见到你。你的安好不仅关系到穆斯林，也关系到其他所有人。你从未让我们中的任何人有理由抱怨。”我对艾哈迈德说：“要是各地的人都为你祈祷，那该多好。”他回答说：“只要一个人认识自己，别人说什么就无关紧要了。” [阿卜杜拉·伊本·阿迪：] 我听到穆罕默德·伊本·阿卜杜拉·阿勒-萨伊拉菲向沙斐仪学派的学生这样说道：“你们要仔细留意侯赛因·阿勒-卡拉比西和艾布·萨乌尔所遭遇的事情。侯赛因以学识和记忆力闻名，他的记忆力比艾布·萨乌尔强十倍。但是，当艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒反对侯赛因关于诵读之说的观点时，侯赛因失去了声誉；而当艾哈迈德称赞艾布·萨乌尔坚守逊奈时，艾布·萨乌尔的声誉却日益增长。” 19.9

‘Aḥmad,’ he told him, ‘I’ve been hoping to meet you for years. Your well-being concerns not only the Muslims but everyone else as well. You’ve never given any of us cause for complaint.’” I said to Aḥmad, “If only everyone everywhere would pray for you.” “So long as a man knows himself,” he replied, “it makes no difference what people say.”[ ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAdī:] I heard Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṣayrafī addressing students of the Shāfiʿī system as follows: “Take careful note of what happened to Ḥusayn al-Karābīsī and Abū Thawr. Ḥusayn was famous for his learning and his powers of retention, which were ten times greater than Abū Thawr’s. But when Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal objected to Ḥusayn’s view of utterance117 Ḥusayn lost his reputation, and when Aḥmad praised Abū Thawr for sticking to the sunnah, his reputation grew.” 19.9

[伊本·拉哈韦赫：] 我曾去拜见阿卜杜拉·伊本·塔希尔，他说："我从未见过这些'推迟派'这样的人！他们会说'我的信仰与吉卜利勒的一样坚定'，但以真主起誓，我认为即便说'我的信仰与叶海雅·伊本·叶海雅或艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒的一样坚定'，也是不妥的。" 19.10

[Ibn Rāhawayh:] I once went to see ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir, who said, “I’ve never seen anything like these Postponers!118 They’ll say, ‘My faith is as strong as Gabriel’s,’ but by God I don’t think it’s right even to say, ‘My faith is as strong as Yaḥyā ibn Yaḥyā’s, or Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s.’” 19.10

[穆罕默德·本·叶哈雅：] 我从未见过比艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒更慷慨的人。我早晨从他那里听闻圣训，当天晚上便口述给我的学生。1911

[Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā:] I’ve never seen generousity as meaningful as Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s. I used to hear Hadith from him in the morning and dictate it to my students that same evening. 19.11

[Aḥmad:] 我与叶哈雅·本·迈因一同前往也门的萨那。我们大约在晡礼时分到达，询问阿布杜·拉扎格的住处在哪里。人们告诉我们，他住在一个名叫拉马达的村庄里。我急于见到他，便先行前去，而叶哈雅留在了后面。距离萨那并不远。我一问，人们便指给我看了房子。可是当我走过去敲门时，街对面的一位杂货商说：“别敲门，那位舍赫可是个让人害怕的人。”19.12

[Aḥmad:] I traveled to Sanaa in Yemen with Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn. We arrived around the time of the afternoon prayer and asked where ʿAbd al-Razzāq’s house was. They told us he lived in a village called al-Ramādah. I was so eager to meet him that I went on ahead, but Yaḥyā stayed behind. It wasn’t that far from Sanaa. As soon as I asked, they pointed out the house. But then when I went to knock on the door, a grocer across the street said, “Don’t knock; the shaykh is a terror.” 19.12

于是我坐下等候，直到快到日落礼拜的时间。当ʿAbd al-Razzāq出来礼拜时，我跳起来，手里拿着我选好的一些圣训。

So I sat down to wait until it was almost time for the sunset prayer. When ʿAbd al- Razzāq came out to pray, I jumped up, holding out some Hadith I had chosen.

“愿平安降临你！”我说，“你能为我诵读这些吗？我远道而来。”他问道：“你是谁？”

“Peace be upon you!” I said. “Will you recite these for me, please? I’ve come a long way.” “Who are you?” he asked.

“艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒。”听到这个名字，他停了下来，耸起双肩，仿佛要把自己缩小一些。随后他转过身来拥抱了我。“你真的是艾哈迈德？”他问道。他拿起圣训的记载开始阅读，一直读到天色暗得看不清字，才停下来。他向杂货商要了一盏灯，继续读下去，直到他通常总是拖到最后时限才做的日落礼拜的时间已经过去。

“Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.” When he heard that, he stopped and drew his shoulders together as if to make himself smaller. Then he turned back and embraced me. “Are you really Aḥmad?” he asked. He took the Hadith reports and started reading them, not stopping until it got too dark for him to see. He asked the grocer for a lamp and kept going until the time for the sunset prayer—which he usually performed at the last possible time—had passed.

[ʿAbd Allāh:] 每当我父亲回忆起得知自己在阿卜杜·拉扎克面前受到赞扬时，他都会流泪。

[ʿAbd Allāh:] Whenever my father recalled learning that he had been praised in the presence of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, he would weep.

[阿布·阿拔斯·哈塔卜：] 在许多伟人还与我们同在的时候，我取来一些纸条，把他们的名字各写一张：阿斯瓦德·伊本·萨利姆、比什尔·伊本·哈里斯、艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒，等等。然后我礼了两拜，请求至大至荣的真主为我选定一位作为效法的榜样。我把纸条洗乱，藏到看不见的地方，再抽出一张。令我欣喜的是，抽中的竟是艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒。我又礼了两拜，祈求真主，再次洗乱纸条，结果仍是艾哈迈德。我第三次尝试，同样的事情又发生了。1913

[Abū l-ʿAbbās al-Ḥaṭṭāb:] Back when many of the great men were still with us, I took some slips of paper and wrote down their names, one on each slip: Aswad ibn Sālim, Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, and so on. Then I prayed two cycles and asked God, mighty and glorious, to choose one for me as an exemplar. I shuffled the slips and put them out of sight, then picked one. To my delight, it turned out to be Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. I prayed two more cycles, invoked God, and reshuffled the slips, and again it came out Aḥmad. When I tried it a third time the same thing happened. 19.13