[Al-Khiraqī:] 我听艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒说："我原谅穆尔塔辛因鞭打我而对我所做的事。" 39.1

[Al-Khiraqī:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “I forgive al-Muʿtaṣim for flogging me.” 39.1

[Al-Ṣarrām:] 我听易卜拉欣·本·易思哈格说，穆塔瓦基勒曾把一位诋毁艾哈迈德的阿里派支持者交送官府，并将他押到艾哈迈德面前，让他为此人定个惩罚。但艾哈迈德宽恕了他，说：“他或许有孩子，若被处死，他们会悲伤。”39.2

[Al-Ṣarrām:] I heard Ibrāhīm ibn Isḥāq report that al-Mutawakkil took the partisan of ʿAlī who had denounced Aḥmad to the government and sent him to Aḥmad so he could recommend a punishment for him. But Aḥmad forgave him, saying, “He may have children who would be grieved if he were killed.” 39.2

这就是这个故事的大意。205

That was the gist of the story.205

[伊本·哈尼ʾ：] 有一次我在艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒那里，一个人说：“艾哈迈德！我在你背后说过你的坏话，你原谅我吧？” 39.3

[Ibn Hāniʾ:] I was once at Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s when a man said, “Aḥmad! I spoke against you behind your back. Will you forgive me?” 39.3

“是的，只要你不再这样做。”“他诽谤了你，你怎么还能原谅他？”我抗议道。“可我已经请他不要再这样做了，”他回答，“你没看见吗？”[哈巴勒说：]有一次，我和艾哈迈德一起做晌礼，一个名叫穆罕默德·本·赛义德·库塔利的人加入了我们。礼毕之后，他问艾哈迈德，为什么要叫人们不要和宰德·本·哈拉夫说话。39.4

“Yes, if you don’t do it again.” “How can you forgive him,” I protested, “when he’s slandered you?” “But I’ve asked him not to do it again,” he answered. “Didn’t you see?” [Ḥanbal:] Once, when I was performing the afternoon prayer with Aḥmad, a man named Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd al-Khuttalī joined us. Afterward he asked Aḥmad why he had told people not to talk to Zayd ibn Khalaf. 39.4

“边境的人写信来询问他的情况，”艾哈迈德回答道，“我告诉他们他的见解，以及他说过的那些前所未有的话，并请他们不要与他同坐。”胡塔利勃然大怒。“以真主为证，”他大喊道，“我要把你重新关进监狱！”他不停地叫嚷，说着诸如“我要把你的肋骨一根根打断！”之类的话。“什么也别说，”艾哈迈德对我说，“也不必理会他。”于是没有人开口。艾哈迈德拿起鞋子，站起身，走进了屋里。

“The people at the frontier wrote asking about him,” replied Aḥmad. “I told them about his opinions and about the unprecedented things he had said, and I asked them not to sit with him.” Al-Khuttalī flew into a rage. “As God is my witness,” he shouted, “I’ll have you thrown back in prison!” He kept on shouting, saying things like, “I’ll break your ribs one by one!” “Don’t say anything,” Aḥmad told me, “and don’t bother answering him.” So no one said anything. Aḥmad picked up his sandals, rose, and went inside.

"告诉租户不要与他争论，"他说。

“Tell the tenants not to argue with him,” he said.

阿-胡塔利继续大声叫嚷了一阵，最后离开了。他后来被任命为萨迈拉的市场监察官，并在那里去世。

Al-Khuttalī went on shouting for a while and finally left. He was made market inspector in Samarra and died there.

[Al-Ājurrī:] 有一次，我和艾哈迈德从主麻礼拜的清真寺走回来，我提到了艾布·哈尼法。他不屑地挥了挥手。39.5

[Al-Ājurrī:] Aḥmad and I were once walking back from the Friday mosque when I mentioned Abū Ḥanīfah. He waved his hand dismissively. 39.5

“阿布·哈尼法的尿，”我说，“比满世界像你这样的人都更有价值！”他看了我一眼，然后说：“再见。”206

“Abū Ḥanifah’s piss,” I said, “was worth more than a world full of people like you!” He looked at me, then said, “Good-bye.”206

第二天一早,我去找他,说:“艾哈迈德,我不是故意说那些话的。你能原谅我吗?”他回答说:“我在那里站着的时候就已经原谅你了。”

Early the next morning, I went to him and said, “Aḥmad, I didn’t mean to say what I said. Will you forgive me?” “I forgave you while I was standing there,” he replied.

[Al-Ḥarbī:] 艾哈迈德·本·罕百里似乎总能知道该怎么做。他拥有极大的耐心与悟性。有一天，一个人来找他，说：“你这里有没有包含异端内容的书？”207 39.6

[Al-Ḥarbī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal always seemed to know the right thing to do. He had an enormous reserve of patience and understanding. One day a man came to him and said, “Do you have any books with heresy in them?”207 39.6

艾哈迈德沉默了一会儿,然后说:“信士唯一安全的地方就是坟墓。”另一次,有人对他说:“人们说你从未从易卜拉欣·本·萨阿德那里听过圣训。”他对此一言不答。

Aḥmad sat silent for a time then said, “The only place a believer is safe is in the grave.” Another time someone said to him, “People say you never heard Hadith from Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd,” and he made no reply at all.

易卜拉欣也有报告：39。7

Ibrāhīm also reported: 39.7

“有一天我们在达乌德·伊本·阿慕尔那里，达乌德问他：‘艾哈迈德，你这些日子饮食如何？睡眠如何？房事又如何？’艾哈迈德回答说：‘我并不厌恶女人，我既有身体，也有灵魂。’他便不肯再多说了。”

“One day we were at Dāwūd ibn ʿAmr’s and Dāwūd asked him, ‘Aḥmad, how are you eating these days? And sleeping? And what about sex?’ “Aḥmad replied, ‘I have no aversion to women, and I have a body as well as a spirit.’ “He refused to say any more.”