Al-Marwudhī said: I heard Abū ʿAbdillāh remark, “I was travelling in nothing but my waist-wrap from Yemen to Mecca.” I asked, “Did you hire yourself out to the camel-drivers?” He replied, “I only paid for my books,” though he did not explicitly say “no.”

It is narrated from Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayyah that once, when the iqāmah had been given, he said, “Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal is here—tell him to step forward and lead us in prayer.”

Al-Athram relates: ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak—an elder who had heard from him long ago—told me: “We were with Ibn ʿUlayyah when some of us began to laugh, and Ahmad was present. Later we returned to Ismāʿīl and found him angry. He said, ‘You laugh while Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal is with me!’ ”

Al-Marwudhī also reported that Abū ʿAbdillāh told him: “We were with Yazīd ibn Hārūn when he made a mistake about something. I pointed it out, so he produced his book, found it exactly as I had said, and corrected it. Thereafter, whenever he sat down he would say, ‘Ibn Ḥanbal, come closer—sit here.’ When I later fell ill, he came to visit me, and in his haste the door struck him as he entered.

“I heard Jaʿfar ibn Maymūn ibn al-Aṣbaġ, and I heard my father say: ‘We were with Yazīd ibn Hārūn, together with al-Muʿayṭī, Abū Khaythamah, and Ahmad. Yazīd enjoyed banter, and al-Muʿayṭī reminded him of something. Yazīd said to him, “I have missed you.” At that, Ahmad cleared his throat; Yazīd turned and asked, “Who is that?” They answered, “Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal.” He said, “Why did you not tell me he was here?” ’ ”

Al-Marwudhī added: I heard one of the people of Wāsiṭ say, “I never saw Yazīd ibn Hārūn abandon his joking for anyone except Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal.”

Aḥmad ibn Sinān al-Qaṭṭān said: “I never saw Yazīd show greater reverence to anyone than to Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal, nor honor anyone as he honored him. He would seat him beside himself, treat him with deference, and would not joke with him.”