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Chapter 7: His Eagerness to Learn and His Single-Minded Pursuit of Knowledge
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٩١ 91 7: His Eagerness to Learn and His Single-Minded Pursuit of Knowledge Weciteal-MubārakibnAḥmadal-Anṣārī,whocites ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Samarqandī, who cites Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit, who cites al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī l-Jawharī; and we cite Muḥammad ibn Abī Ṭāhir, who said that al-Jawharī informed him that Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Khazzāz reported that he heard Abū Bakr al-Ṣūlī say that he heard Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm al-Qazzāz, who said that he heard Isḥāq al-Shahīdī report: [Al-Shahīdī:] I remember seeing Yaḥyā l-Qaṭṭān pray the afternoon prayer and then lean against the pillar of the mosque where he prayed. ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, al-Shādhakūnī,72 ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn, and others would stand before him and ask about Hadith. They would stay on their feet until it was time for sunset prayer. Al-Qaṭṭān would never invite any of them to sit down, and they were too much in awe of him to sit down by themselves. We cite al-Mubārak ibn Aḥmad, who cites ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ahmad al-Samarqandī, who cites Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, who cites Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Rizq, who heard Muḥammad ibn Muḥsin ibn Ziyād, who heard Idrīs ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm report that Khalaf said: [Khalaf:] Ibn Ḥanbal came to me to hear the Hadith of Abū ʿAwānah. I tried as hard as I could to persuade him to take a higher seat, but he refused. “The only place I’ll sit is in front of you,” he said. “We Muslims ought to show deference to our teachers.”73 Chapter 7: His Eagerness to Learn and His Single-Minded Pursuit of Knowledge Ibn Ḥanbal, may God be pleased with him, traveled great distances in search of Hadith and spent a long time acquiring it, and did not permit himself to be distracted by earning a living or seeking a wife until he had achieved what he set out to do. We cite Ibn Abī Manṣūr, who cites ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad, who was informed by Ibrāhim ibn ʿUmar, who was informed by ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Jaʿfar, who cited Abū Bakr al-Khallāl, who heard Abū Bakr al-Marrūdhī report that Abū ʿAbd Allāh said to him: 6.5 7.1 7.2 6.4 ٩٢ 92 ï/=ð Ì ¢ñ h i F 01 $X /=ð P i  * + , _?@ / # f ?@ / # . v w x-F "2 3 4 5 6 # v w x- 2 3 4 5 6 " #¡ 01 P :$X@ / . / $ % &'# ( ) AB " # ¢ " # * D E Â01¡ Pu / #P²³Ö 01¤£ " # _ ? 7°̄ :. / * D EP Pà HI/ # 7°̄#01¤@ / # ( ) 7 JKL M AB¦^°̄ " # :. / F y HI/ # ( ) `aÇ HI/ #01¤£ " # AB¦^°̄ " # :. / F01ÊZ [e * + ,- " # 7 JKL M AB¦^°̄ " # F ` ! ìop01¤£ " # * D Y_ 7°̄ :. / f/ ã 01 G " #P²³Ö 01¤£ " # * D Y_ 7°̄ :. / kɦ^°̄ " # * + ,- : HI/ # k! # P¡ AB " # ¢ " # $X AB! 01 Ê ! y ١PË ) 01¤£ " # AB¦^°̄ " # :. / ` d Z [ _ Ý7: HI/ # ]^ §¨ i Ì :. / 01 á= TB ` d " # Þ w媫ÿp :. / 01 á= TB * + , ! F \ 01 ! 7^@ / # " # Þ w媫ÿp ؟7°̄#01 $X°̄01 $X` d i $X/ d [£ §¨ i ؛$X/ d [ £ t u / ،Á01 G 01 $Xv w çìop01 Á01 G 01 $X`ìop . k lim nXù è j éÖI/ # # vÉ01G Ì01 " # :. / " # Q q HI/ Z [ * D E01F 01 ٢. * + ,I/ d¡ i * D E 01Ùop _ Ý7°̄ <=T@ /" # <=T@ /" # * + (/ ã Ì ¸^ §¨ i :. / 01 á= TB * + ,- " #¡ Þ w媫ÿp ï/ ; "=ð Ì ¢ñ h i F A 01 $X-/=ð P i  ½ _c@ / # fc@ / # ( ) AB¦^°̄ " # :. / F01ÊZ [e * + ,- " # 7 JKL M AB¦^°̄ " #01 Ý_ AB * + ,NO ) " # AB¦^°̄ " # :. / 7 JKL M P@ / # ( ) AB¦^°̄ " # _ ? 7°̄ :. / ¢# \ ! ٣7 JKL M 7 JKL M $ % &'# ` d¡ ò ) _ ? 7°̄ :. / $X = =T@ / #PË ) k ´É#P " # AB¦^°̄ " # : 2 3 4 5 6 7 JKL M F v=T@ / # :. / | °̄F 7 JKL M PË ) \= ! ð 01¤£ " # " # ¢ñ h i :. / 01 á= TB $XO ) \ F¡ F AB " #¡ Þ w媫ÿp :. / 01 á= TB ` d " # $ % &'# ( ) Þ w媫ÿp ؟à9 ABF ¡ AB 01 :$X@ / =µ _ Ý7°̄ <=T@ /" # <=T@ /" # ï/=ð Ì ` d . f#01¤£ "2 3 4 5 6 # $XÀ9O )¡ f 7°̄ " $X¡ ABP i #  :. / . : ١ .، ٢ . : ٣ ٣،٧ ٤،٧ ١،٨ [3.145.2.184] Project MUSE (2024-04-24 13:18 GMT) ٩٣ 93 8: His Powers of Retention and the Number of Reports He Knew by Heart [Aḥmad:] I didn’t marry until I was past forty. We cite Ibn Abī Manṣūr, who cites Abū l-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār, who cites Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wāḥid al-Ḥarīrī, who cites Abū ʿUmar ibn Ḥayyawayh, who cites Abū Muzāḥim al-Khāqānī, who heard Abū Bakr, the brother of Khaṭṭāb, report that he heard his associate Abū Sayyār say that he heard Aḥmad al-Dawraqī say that he heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say: [Aḥmad al-Dawraqī:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “We’ve written down six or seven versions of a Hadith and even then didn’t feel sure of its provenance. So how can someone feel sure of a report they’ve written only once?” or words to that effect. [Aḥmad’s son Ṣāliḥ recounted:] [Ṣāliḥ:] I heard my father say, “I’ve written down a million Hadith reports in my own writing, not counting the ones written down for me.” Chapter 8: His Powers of Retention and the Number of Reports He Knew by Heart We cite ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad, who cites Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit; and we cite Muḥammad ibn Abī Manṣūr, who cites ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad, who [along with Ibn Thābit] cites Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar al-Faqīh (the jurisprudent), who said that he heard ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥamdān report that he heard Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar ibn Muḥammad ibn Rajāʾ report that he heard Ibn Ḥanbal’s son ʿAbd Allāh say: [ʿAbd Allāh:] I heard Abū Zurʿah say that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal knew a million Hadith reports. “How would you know?” he was asked. “He and I recited them to each other, and we went through the different topics.”74 7.3 7.4 8.1 ...
