with ʿAffān—when the man is rather simple-minded?’

Muʿādh kept silent. Sometime later he sent ʿAffān out to investigate a case. ʿAffān went, took the statements, slipped the written brief into his sleeve, bought some qubbayṭ (1) and put that in the same sleeve, then returned. When he handed the brief to Muʿādh it was smeared with the qubbayṭ, whereupon Muʿādh burst out laughing and said, ‘Who can blame me for favoring ʿAffān?’ (2)

Hanbal said: I was present with Abū ʿAbd Allāh (Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal) and Ibn Maʿīn in ʿAffān’s house after Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm had summoned him to the inquisition. ʿAffān was the first person to be examined. The next morning, once the questioning was over, Yaḥyā (Ibn Maʿīn) asked him—in Abū ʿAbd Allāh’s presence and ours—‘Tell us what Isḥāq said to you.’

ʿAffān replied, ‘Abū Zakariyyā, I have not blackened your face nor the faces of your companions: I gave him no answer.’

Yaḥyā asked, ‘Then what exactly happened?’

He said, ‘He summoned me and read out the letter al-Maʾmūn had sent from al-Jazīrah. In it he wrote: “Test ʿAffān and call him to say such-and-such about the Qur’an. If he says it, leave him be; if he will not comply with what I have instructed, cut off the stipend paid to him.” Al-Maʾmūn used to give me five hundred dirhams every month.

‘After Isḥāq finished reading, he said, “What do you say?” So I recited to him: “Say: He is Allah, One…” until I completed the surah. Then I said, “Is this created?”

‘He answered, “Shaykh, the Commander of the Believers says that if you will not agree to what he is calling you to, he will cut off your allowance.”

‘I replied, “In heaven is your provision and all that you are promised” (Q 51:22). He fell silent and I left.’

Abū ʿAbd Allāh and Yaḥyā were delighted by this. (3)