Virtues of the Imam Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal: Volume One

Chapter 40: His Property and Means of Subsistence

٤١٩ 419 40: His Property and Means of Subsistence 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. We cite Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir, who cites ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, who cites Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar al-Barmakī, who cites Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Baṭṭah, who heard Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb al-ʿUkbarī report that he heard Ibrāhīm al-Ḥarbī say: [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?”297 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. Ibrāhīm also reported: “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.” Chapter 40: His Property and Means of Subsistence Aḥmad—God be pleased with him—inherited from his father some tenements and the house where he lived. He rented out the tenements and lived off the rents, without having to ask anyone for anything.298 We cite Abū Manṣūr ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad, who cites Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit, who cites Abū Muḥammad al-Jawharī, who cites Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAbbās, who cites Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Munādī, who heard his grandfather Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh report: 39.6 40.1 39.7 ٤٢٠ 420 $X_`opv wÚ01 $X†@ / P˜ i™   * +  ,   ¢01áw  x-F "2 3 4 5 6 #  f ?@ / # F# 7^†@ / # Á  vÉ Æ ! F   " # AB " # :  ` d      " #  * + ,I/ . /    :. /    $ % &'# `  dò )    7  JKL M   * D E  7°̄  * D Y_   7°̄    P“Ë ) . / 01 ¶   * + ,I/ " # à9†@ /    * +  ,    ÞÉ   " # ،  $X`ìop NXù h i  * +  ,   v‰ ( )  Áñ h i  P@ / # Q  R P €¡ " #01 v‰ §²™³çop " #  * D  Y@ / # .Â#01 ! Ùabc@ / #  ŸœF " #  * +  ,    f –›/œ ã  HI/ # $X89 v w  çìab„ ¢ñ h i  * D E7^†@ / # F  v= wx@ / #  Ë )   ` d      " #   °̄F . /" `op01 :P  S= w ¹      " # . /    ¢ "     * + ,- " #  Ë ) $X¡ _ ?‘F01     |  * D _ Yÿp #  vÉ :$X†@ / . /  v=µ   ،Á( ) $X89 ]^`op  §¨ i™$X §   F#  * +  ,    ²™³çab„01 .$X?@ / " # $Xw   Â01 $X( )     P € $X†@ / $X AB " # Q q 0•s– [ Œ   7°̄ " #  * +  ,- | °̄ ï›/œ   y  HI/ #   * + ,NO )    7  JKL M  P²™³Ö 01¤£ " # AB¦Ž^°̄ " # :. /     Z [¡  ?‘ ¢ñ h i 01  $X  89 v wx@ / # .$X( ) ¦Ž^Z [Š£ t u / #  vÉ Â 01áw x-   ،  $X"  ?‘ÂF :. /    01 " # ،|01Ùop  $X· w¡ c–›/œ Á  vÉ :$ % &'# ( )01¤£ " # . /  v=µ    $X  89 v wx@ / # Á  vÉ ¢ " # t užv w x-  ݑ " # :  * + ,I/ . /     k‚ _ƒ –  $X89 v wx@ / #  * D Yç w x- – Á¦Ž^  O )     * + ,I/ " #      Z [ Š£01 k‚­ÉF  AB $XAB ù è j é¡ çop .  $X  ߈‰ ø  $X°̄:  HI/ Á  O ) " #     ¢ñ h i$X AB " #¡   ¸^  Z›/œ Œ   $Xv‰  ã 01  * +  ,   ٢،٤٠ ٣،٤٠ ٤٢١ 421 40: His Property and Means of Subsistence [Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh:] Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal told me, “Every year I survey the house I live in and pay the alms-tax on it, following what ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said about the Black Land in Iraq.”299 Aḥmad lived in one part of the property and rented part of it out to others. Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar reported that someone asked him how he knew that he was the rightful owner. “It’s something I inherited from my father,” he replied. “If anyone comes and proves it’s his, I’d move out and give it to him.” We cite Muḥammad ibn Abī Manṣūr, who cites ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, who cites Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī l-Khayyāṭ, who cites Muḥammad ibn Abī l-Fawāris, who cites Aḥmad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Salm, who heard Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Khāliq, who heard Abū Bakr al-Marrūdhī report: [Al-Marrūdhī:] I heard...