al-Wāʿiẓ report that he heard Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Masʿadah al-Iṣfahānī report that he heard Abū Yaḥyā Makkī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yūsuf al-Thaqafī report that he heard Abū Bakr al-Aʿyan report:
[Abū Bakr al-Aʿyan:] I told Ādam al-ʿAsqalānī I was traveling to Baghdad and asked him if he wanted anything.
“Yes,” he said. “When you get there, go to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, greet him for me, and tell him this. ‘You there! Fear God, and seek closeness to Him, by staying the course. Let no one dismay you: you stand—God willing—at the very gate of the Garden.’ And tell him: ‘We heard al-Layth ibn Saʿd report, citing Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān, citing Abū l-Zannād, citing al-Aʿraj, citing Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet, God bless and keep him, said: “If any ask you to disobey God, heed him not.”’”
So I went to see Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal in jail. When I found him, I greeted him, conveyed al-ʿAsqalānī’s greeting, and repeated his words, along with the Hadith. Aḥmad lowered his gaze for a time, then raised his head and said, “God have mercy on him in life and death alike! His is good counsel indeed.”
٦،٦٨
أخبرنا عبد الملك بن أبي القاسم قال: أخبرنا عبد الله بن محمّد الأنصاري قال: أخبرنا إسحاق بن إبراهيم السَّرَخْسي قال: أخبرنا محمّد بن عُبيد الله اللأَّل:١ حدثنا محمّد بن إبراهيم الصرّام قال: حدثنا إبراهيم بن إسحاق الغَسِيلي٢ قال:
حدثنا أبو بكر محمّد بن طَريف الأعين قال: أتيتُ آدم بن أبي إياس فقلت له: إنّ عبد الله بن صالح يُقْرِئك السلام.
قال: لا تُقْرِئْني منه السلام ولا تُقْرِئْه منّي السلام.
فقلت: ولِمَ؟
قال: لأنه قال: القرآن مخلوق.
فقلت له: إنه قد اعتذر اليومَ وأخبر الناس برجوعه عن ذلك.
قال: إنْ كان كذلك فأقرئه منّي السلام.
فلما فرغتُ قلت له: إني أُريد الخُروج إلى بغداد فهل لك من حاجة؟
قال: نعم، ائتِ أحمدَ بن حنبل فاقرأ عليه مني السلام وقل له: يا هذا اتّقِ الله وتقرّب إلى الله بما أنت عليه ولا يستفزنَّك أحد عن دينك فإنّك إن شاء الله مشرف على الجنّة.
وقل له: حدَّثنا الليث بن سعد عن ابن عَجلان عن أبي الزناد عن الأعرج عن أبي هريرة قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : مَن أرادكم على مَعصية الله فلا تُطيعوه.
فأتيتُه وهو في السجن فأقرأته السلام وأَخبرته بالكلام والحديث فأطرق مليًّا ثم قال: يرحمه الله حيًّا وميتًا، قد أحسن النصيحة.
١ د: الدلال. ٢ د: العُسيلي.
We cite ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī l-Qāsim, who cites ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Anṣārī, who cites Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sarakhsī, who cites Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Laʾʾāl (the pearl merchant), who heard Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Ṣarrām report that he heard Ibrāhīm ibn Isḥāq al-Ghasīlī report that he heard Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Ṭarīf al-Aʿyan report:
[Al-Aʿyān:] I went to Ādam ibn Abī Iyās [al-ʿAsqalānī] and told him that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ had sent him his regards.
“Convey no greetings to me from him,” he said, “or to him from me!”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because he said that the Qurʾan is created.”
“He’s just explained that he didn’t mean it,” I said, “and he’s announced to everyone that he takes back what he said.”
“In that case, convey my greetings.”
As I was leaving, I told al-ʿAsqalānī I was going to Baghdad and asked him if he wanted anything.
“Yes,” he said. “Go to Ibn Ḥanbal and give him my regards. Tell him this: ‘You there! Fear God, and seek closeness to Him, by staying the course. Let no one dismay you: you stand—God willing—at the very gate of the Garden.’ And tell him: ‘We heard al-Layth ibn Saʿd report, citing Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān, citing Abū l-Zinād, citing al-Aʿraj, citing Abū Hurayrah, that the Prophet, God bless and keep him, said: “If any ask you to disobey God, heed him not.”’”
So I went to see Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal in jail. When I found him, I conveyed al-ʿAsqalānī’s greeting and his advice, along with the Hadith. Aḥmad lowered his gaze for a moment, then said, “God have mercy on him in life and death alike! His is good counsel indeed.”
الباب التاسع والستون
في ذكر قصّته مع المعتصِم
Chapter 69
His Experience with al-Muʿtaṣim
١،٦٩
لمّا مات المأمون رُدّ أحمد إلى بغداد فسُجن إلى أن امتحنه المعتصم وكان أحمد بن أبي دُؤاد على قضاء القضاة فحمله على امتحان الناس بخلق القرآن.
When al-Maʾmūn died, Aḥmad was brought back to Baghdad and imprisoned there. Then he was tried by al-Muʿtaṣim. The chief judge at the time was Aḥmad ibn Abī Duʾād, who had persuaded the caliph to test people’s belief that the Qurʾan is created.70
