who cites Ibn Yūsuf, who cites al-Barmakī, who heard Ibn Mardak report that he heard Ibn Abī Ḥātim report that he heard Aḥmad’s son Ṣāliḥ report:
[Aḥmad:] “Commander of the Faithful,” said Ibn Abī Duʾād, “seeing him capitulate to you would mean more to me than a hundred thousand dinars, and another hundred thousand dinars,”88 and so on, throwing out one number after another.
“If he tells me what I want to hear,” said al-Muʿtaṣim, “I swear I’ll unchain him with my own hands. Then I’ll lead my troops to him and march along behind him.” Then he said, “Aḥmad, I want what’s best for you, the same as if you were my son Hārūn. Come on, now: What can you tell me?”89
“Give me something from the Book of God,” I said, “or the sunnah of His Emissary.”
١٤،٦٩
فلما طال المجلس ضجِر وقال : قوموا! وحبسني وعبد الرحمن بن إسحاق يكلّمني وقال: ويحك، أَجِبْني!
وقال لي: ما أعرفك ألم تكن تأتينا؟
فقال له عبد الرحمن بن إسحاق: يا أمير المؤمنين أعرفه منذ ثلاثين سنة يرى طاعتك والجهاد والحجّ معكم.
قال: فيقول: واللهِ إنه لَعالم وإنّه لَفقيه، وما يسوؤني١ أن يكون مثلُه معي يردّ عني أهل المِلَل.
ثم قال لي: ما كنت تعرف صالحًا الرشيدي؟
قال: قلت: قد سمعت باسمه.
قال: كان مؤدِّبي وكان في ذلك الموضع جالسًا – وأشار إلى ناحية من الدار – فسألتُه عن القرآن فخالفني فأمرت به فوُطئ وسُحب.
ثم قال لي: يا أحمد أجبني إلى شيء لك فيه أدنى فرَج حتى أُطلق عنك بيدي.
قال: قلت: أعطوني شيئًا من كتاب الله عز وجل أو سنّة رسوله.
١ ش: يسُرني.
As the session dragged on, al-Muʿtaṣim grew bored and restless. “Go!” he said to the scholars. Then he ordered ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq and me to stay behind so he could talk to me.
“Come on!” he said. “Why don’t you give up?” Then he said, “I don’t recognize you. Have you never come here before?”
“I know him, Commander of the Faithful,” said ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq. “For thirty years, he’s been saying that Muslims owe obedience to you and should follow you in the holy war and join you on the pilgrimage.”
“By God,” said al-Muʿtaṣim, “he’s a man of learning—a man of understanding! I wouldn’t mind having someone like him with me to argue against people from other religions.” Then, turning to me, “Did you know Ṣāliḥ al-Rashīdī?”
“I’ve heard of him,” I said.
“He was my tutor, and he was sitting right there,” he said, pointing to a corner of the room. “I asked him about the Qurʾan and he contradicted me, so I had him trampled and dragged out. So Aḥmad: find something—anything—you can agree to, and I’ll unchain you with my own hands.”
“Give me something from the Book of God,” I said, “or the sunnah of His Emissary.”
١٥،٦٩
فطال المجلس فقام فدخل ورددت إلى الموضع الذي كنت فيه.
فلمّا كان بعد المغرب وجّه إليّ برجلين من أصحاب ابن أبي دُؤاد يبيتان عندي ويناظراني ويقيمان معي حتى إذا كان وقت الإفطار جيء بالطعام ويجتهدان بي أن أفطر فلا أفعل.
قال أبي: ووجه إليّ، يعني المعتصم، ابن أبي دُؤاد في بعض الليل فقال: يقول لك أمير المؤمنين: ما تقول؟ فأردّ عليه نحوًا ممّا كنت أردّ.
فقال ابن أبي دؤاد: والله لقد كتب اسمك في السبعة، يحيى بن مَعِين وغيره، فمحوتُه – والسبعة يحيى بن مَعِين وأبو خَيْثمة١ وأحمد الدَّورقي والقَواريري وسَعدويه وسَجادة وأحمد بن حنبل وقيل خَلَف المخزومي – ولقد سائني أخْذهم إياك، ثم يقول: إن أمير المؤمنين قد حلف أن يضربك ضربًا بعد ضرب وأن يُلقيك في موضع لا ترى فيه الشمس ويقول: إن أجابني جئتُ إليه حتى أُطلق عنه بيدي. ثم انصرف.
١ ش: يحيى ابو خيثمة.
The session dragged on. Finally al-Muʿtaṣim rose and went back inside, and I was sent back to the place where they had been keeping me.
After sunset prayers, two of Ibn Abī Duʾād’s associates were sent in to spend the night there and continue debating with me. They stayed until it was time to break the fast.90 When the meal arrived they pressed me to eat but I wouldn’t. Then, at some point during the night, al-Muʿtaṣim sent over Ibn Abī Duʾād.
“The Commander of the Faithful wants to know if you have anything to say.”
I gave him my usual answer.
“You know,” he said, “your name was one of the seven—Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn and the rest—but I rubbed it out.”91
The seven were Yāḥyā ibn Maʿīn, Abū Khaythamah, Aḥmad al-Dawraqī, al-Qawārīrī, Saʿduwayh, and—in some accounts—Khalaf al-Makhzūmī.92
Ibn Abī Duʾād continued: “I was sorry to see them arrest you.” Then he said, “The
