Virtues of the Imam Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal: Volume One

Chapter 32: His Remarks on Different Subjects

٣٧٥ 375 32: His Remarks on Different Subjects We cite ʿUmar ibn Ẓafar, who cites Jaʿfar ibn Aḥmad, who cites ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAlī, who cites Ibn Jahḍam, who heard Abū Bakr al-Naqqāsh report that he heard Aḥmad’s son ʿAbd Allāh report: [ʿAbd Allāh:] One day I asked my father to give me some advice. He said, “Always intend to do the right thing. As long as your intention is sound, you’ll be all right.” Weciteal-MubārakibnAḥmadal-Anṣārī,whocitesʿAbdAllāhibnAḥmadal-Samarqandī, who cites Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Thābit, who cites ʿAbd al-Ghaffār ibn Muḥammad al-Muʾaddib, who heard ʿUmar ibn Aḥmad al-Wāʿiẓ report that he heard Aḥmad ibn Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā l-Raʾʾās (the seller of roasted sheep heads) report that he heard Abū Bakr al-Marrūdhī say: [Al-Marrūdhī:] Someone once asked Ibn Ḥanbal what his people had done to become so well regarded. “They’ve been truthful,” he said. We cite al-Mubārak ibn Aḥmad, who cites al-Samarqandī, who cites Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, who cites Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn al-Qāsim ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shāhid, in Basra, who heard Abū l-Ḥasan al-Mādharāʾī report that he heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal’s son ʿAbd Allāh report: [ʿAbd Allāh:] I heard my father say, “You can’t be rightly fearful unless you know what to fear.”270 Chapter 32: His Remarks on Different Subjects We cite the two Muḥammads, Ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and Ibn Nāṣir, who cite Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Muʿaddal, who cites Abū l-Ḥusayn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ahwāzī, who heard ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Baṣrī; and we cite Ibn Nāṣir, who cites al-Mubārak ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār, who cites Ibrāhīm ibn ʿUmar, who heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh ibn Baṭṭah report that he heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar report that he [like ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Baṣrī] heard Abū Yūsuf Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq say that he heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say: 31.17 31.19 31.18 32.1 ٣٧٦ 376  $X v=®9 y   ¢01 Ê §    * +  ,   $X im nXù h i P˜ i™   * +  ,   ¢01 _¤£im nX_?@ / #01  * +  ,- _?@ / #  f ?@ / # ٢،٣٢ ٣،٣٢ ٤،٣٢ NXù h i " 01¡ ¤£ :. / 01  á= TB   ` d      " #  Þ w媫ÿp :. / 01  á= TB ¼   : •sØp " #     f01  á= w x-  Z›/œ¡ 3 / #  Þ w媫ÿp :. / 01  á= TB  P  PS wx@ / # ( )    7°̄#01¤@ / # ( )   Z [ Œ=T@ / #   AB " #  * +  Ë )  Þ w媫ÿp   °̄F   ?‘ ¢ " # Â#F "    .  . / !    °̄P@ / # |   Z [ " #  f #   " # :. / 01  á= TB   ` d  ‫؛‬  * D E7 \ 89¡ :  HI/ # _ ?‘  7°̄ :. /    F   v=ð  HI/ # 7  JKL M     . / im nX! vÉ AB¦Ž^°̄ " # :. /     " #     `aÇ  HI/ #   * + ,NO )01¤£ " # AB "    ?‘ " # :. /   P“‹ [AB    7  JKL M  AB¦Ž^°̄ " # _ ?‘  7°̄ :  * D YZ›/œ Œ   F# 7^†@ / #  `aÇ  HI/ #  * + ,- " # * + ,NO ) " * D E P¡  â   :. /    Q q  r  sä=T@ / #      * + ,NO )    7  JKL M  AB "    ?‘ " # :. /     * D EP Pà  HI/ #  " #    $ % &'#  $X É AB "    ?‘ " #01 :. /    Q q " Ì `abc@ / #  Z [01 ¶   t už`abÐ .$ % &'# ( )   AB " #   AB !      Z [ :* D   Ì $X†@ / . /  v=µ   .          ١ .            :      ٢ .١:١٠٦                            ،             :      ٣ ٣٧٧ 377 32: His Remarks on Different Subjects [Abū Yūsuf:] I once heard Aḥmad say, “There are three ways to eat: with friends for pleasure, with the poor in charity, and with worldly men out of duty.” We cite Ibn Nāṣir, who cites, with his permission, al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad, who heard Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad report that he heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad report that he heard Muḥammad ibn Ḥafṣ report that he heard Abū Bakr al-Marrūdhī report that he heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say: [Al-Marrūdhī:] I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “Anything can be noble. A person’s heart is noble when it accepts God’s will.”271 We cite Ibn Nāṣir, who heard Abū Muḥammad al-Tamīmī say that he heard his uncle Abū l-Faḍl ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz say: [Ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz:] I once saw al-Muṭīʿ li-Llāh272 on the pulpit trying to win over a crowd of Ḥanbalīs—maybe thirty thousand—who were looking at him. He said, “I heard my teacher Ibn Bint Manīʿ say that he heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, ‘When a man’s...