艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒,愿真主喜悦他,努力效法早期穆斯林的做法,以至于——正如我们从侯赛因·伊本·姆纳迪那里所了解到的——他为了效法他们,征得妻子的同意,要纳一名侍妾。在妻子的同意下,他以微不足道的价格买下一名女子,并按照先知ﷺ的榜样,为她取名为莱哈奈。21.1

Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, God be pleased with him, strove to emulate the practices of the early Muslims to the point that—as we learned from al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Munādī—he asked his wife’s permission to have a concubine in emulation of them. With his wife’s consent, he bought a woman for a trifling price and named her Rayḥānah, following the example set by the Prophet, God bless and keep him. 21.1

[Al-Baghdādī:] 有人曾向艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒问候道：“愿你在伊斯兰中长寿！”21。2

[Al-Baghdādī:] Someone once greeted Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal by saying, “May you live long in Islam!” 21.2

“并且在圣训中。”他回答道。

“And in the sunnah,” he replied.

[Al-Maymūnī:] 我从未见过比艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒更有德行的人，也未见过后世穆斯林中比他更谨慎地避免触犯真主法度、更专心遵循先知ﷺ的逊奈的人。只要一段传述被证实可靠，没有人比他更严格地依照它而行。21.3

[Al-Maymūnī:] Never have I laid eyes on anyone with more merit than Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, nor any latter-day Muslim146 more wary of transgressing God’s law, or more devoted to the sunnah of the Prophet, God bless and keep him. If a report proved reliable, no one was more rigorous than he in living by it. 21.3

[阿萨拉姆：] 我听到艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒说："这无非是认识圣道并遵循它。类比推理只有在有一个出发点时才成立。但你不能先找到出发点，将其推翻，然后却称你所做的为‘类比推理’。那么，类比是以什么为基础的呢？"21。4

[Al-Athram:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “It’s nothing more than knowing the sunnah and following it. Reasoning by analogy works only if you have a place to start from. But you can’t work your way to the starting point, demolish it, and then call what you’ve done ‘reasoning by analogy.’ Analogy based on what?” 21.4

有人曾对艾哈迈德说：“除非一个人非常有学问，并且懂得如何正确地比较事物，否则不应尝试运用类比推理。”他回答道：“对。”

Someone once said to Aḥmad: “No one should attempt to reason by analogy unless he’s very learned and knows how to compare things properly.” “Right,” he replied.

在处理法律问题时，据我所知，艾哈迈德会遵循引述先知的圣训，如果有相关圣训的话，而对归于圣门弟子或后世学者的不同意见则置之不理。若圣门弟子之间有分歧，他会在他们的意见中进行选择，而不会去参考后人的意见。若既没有先知的圣训，也没有圣门弟子的传述可以依据，他就会转而求助于再传弟子。有时，某段先知圣训的传述存在问题，但只要不存在更有力的相反传述，他仍会接受该传述。例如，由阿慕尔·本·舒艾卜和易卜拉欣·哈贾里所传的圣训便属于这种情况。有时，只要没有相反的记载与之相抵触，他也会引用一段在圣门弟子一级缺少传述环节的传述。21.5

In dealing with legal problems, Aḥmad, in my experience, would follow Hadith reports citing the Prophet, if there were any, and ignore divergent opinions attributed to the Companions or members of later generations. If the Companions had disagreed among themselves, he would choose among their opinions; he would not consult later opinions. If there was no Prophetic Hadith and no Companion reports to draw on, he would go to the Successors. Sometimes there would be a problem with the transmission of a Prophetic Hadith, but he would accept the report so long as no stronger contrary report existed. This was the case, for example, with the Hadith narrated by ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb and Ibrāhīm al-Hajarī. Sometimes he would cite a report with a link missing at the Companion level if there was nothing to contradict it. 21.5

[محمد بن داود:] 阿布·伯克尔·马鲁迪告诉我们，“我曾与艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒一同前往清真寺。我们进去后，他起身礼拜，我看到他把手从袖中伸出来，像这样做了一下。”此处马鲁迪做了一个挥动两根手指的手势。“礼拜结束后，我问他礼拜时为什么用手指做手势。他说：‘撒旦来到我身边，说我没有洗脚，而我是在向他表明，我有两个相反的见证。’”21.6

[Muḥammad ibn Dāwūd:] Abū Bakr al-Marrūdhī told us, “I once went to the mosque with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal. After we went in he got up to pray, and I saw him extend his hand out of his sleeve and go like this.” Here al-Marrūdhī made a gesture by waving two fingers. “When the prayer was over, I asked him why he had gestured with his fingers while praying. He said, ‘Satan came to me and said that I hadn’t washed my feet, and I was showing him that I had two witnesses to the contrary.’” 21.6

[Al-Maymūnī:] 艾哈迈德·本·罕百勒曾对我说："阿布·哈桑！切记，除非你有可引为依据的范例，否则不要就某个问题发表意见。"21.7

[Al-Maymūnī:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once said to me, “Abū l-Ḥasan! Make sure never to speak on a question unless you have an exemplar to cite.” 21.7

[ʿAbd al-Raḥmān the physician:] 艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒和比什尔·伊本·哈里斯都病了。每当我去探望比什尔并问他感觉如何时，他都会先赞颂真主，然后告诉我说：“感谢真主！我感觉是这样那样。”但每当我去探望艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒并问他感觉如何时，他都只说：“还好。” 21.8

[ʿAbd al-Raḥmān the physician:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and Bishr ibn al-Ḥārith both fell ill. Whenever I went to see Bishr, I would ask how he was feeling, and he would praise God and then tell me, saying “Praise God! I feel such-and-such.” But whenever I went to see Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and ask him how he was feeling, he would say “Fine.” 21.8

有一天我对艾哈迈德说:“你的兄弟比什尔也病了,每次我问他身体怎样,他都先赞美真主。”“你去问问他这是从谁那里学来的。”“我不敢问他这个。”“你告诉他,他的兄弟艾布·阿卜杜拉想知道。” 下一次我见到比什尔时,便把艾哈迈德的话告诉了他。他回答说:“艾哈迈德什么都不会接受,除非有传述系统!这是艾布·阿文引述伊本·西林的话:‘如果你在诉苦之前先赞美真主,那就不算诉苦。’所以我告诉你,我感觉如何如何,是为了承认真主对我的主宰。”我离开比什尔的家,去向艾哈迈德转述他的话。此后,每次我去见艾哈迈德,他都会说:“赞美真主”,然后告诉我他哪里不舒服。

One day I said to Aḥmad, “Your brother Bishr is ill too, and whenever I ask him how he is, he begins by praising God.” “Ask him who he got that from.” “I’m afraid to ask him that.” “Tell him that his brother Abū ʿAbd Allāh wants to know.” The next time I saw Bishr, I told him what Aḥmad had said. He replied, “Aḥmad won’t take anything without a list of transmitters! It’s Abū ʿAwn citing Ibn Sīrīn, ‘If you praise God before complaining, then it’s not a complaint.’ So I’m telling you that I feel such-and-such, to acknowledge God’s power over me.” I left Bishr’s house and went to Aḥmad to report what he had said. After that, every time I went to see Aḥmad he would say, “Praise God” and then tell me what was wrong.

[Al-Marrūdhī:] 艾哈迈德告诉我说:"我从未记录过一段先知的圣训而不去实践它。所以当我看到一则记载,说先知曾付给艾布·塔伊拜一第纳尔,让他为自己拔火罐,我下一次拔火罐时,也给了拔火罐的人一第纳尔。"147 21.9

[Al-Marrūdhī:] Aḥmad told me, “I have never written down a Hadith of the Prophet, God bless and keep him, without putting it into practice. So when I came across a report that the Prophet paid Abū Ṭaybah a dinar to perform a cupping on him, when I next had myself cupped I gave the cupper a dinar.”147 21.9

[Al-Aʿmash:] 我听到有人问艾哈迈德·伊本·罕百勒关于强迫性和扰乱心神的念头。他说：“圣门弟子和再传弟子都没有就此说过什么。”21.10

[Al-Aʿmash:] I heard someone ask Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal about obsessive and distracting thoughts. He said, “Neither the Companions nor the Successors had anything to say about them.” 21.10