Al-Khallāl relates: Muḥammad ibn Yāsīn al-Baladī told us, “I heard Ibn Abī Uways. Someone said to him, ‘The experts in hadith have disappeared.’ He replied,
‘So long as Allah preserves Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, the experts in hadith have not disappeared.’
Ibn al-Madīnī said, “My master Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal instructed me not to transmit anything except from a written text.”
Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan Abū Maʿīn al-Rāzī reported: “I heard Ibn al-Madīnī say, ‘None among our companions has a better memory than Aḥmad. I have also heard that he never narrates except from a book, and we follow his example in that.’ ”
He also transmitted that Aḥmad said, “Today the ḥujja (decisive proof) of Allah is established against His creation.”
ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Munʿim informed us—through his chain of authorities—up to Abū ʿUbayd al-Qāsim ibn Sallām, who said:
“Knowledge has reached its culmination with four men: Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—he is the most insightful in it; Ibn Abī Shaybah—he has the strongest memory of it; ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī—he is the most knowledgeable about it; and Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn—he has written the most of it.”
Isḥāq al-Minjanīqī reported: al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad al-Muʾaddib narrated to us from Muḥammad ibn Abī Bishr, who said:
“I came to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal about a certain issue. He said, ‘Go to Abū ʿUbayd, for he possesses a clarity of expression you will not hear from anyone else.’ So I went to him, and his answer satisfied me. When I told him what Aḥmad had said, he remarked:
‘That man is one of Allah’s workers. Allah has spread over him the cloak of righteous deeds and has stored up for him nearness to Himself. Do you not see how beloved and approachable he is? My eyes have never seen in Iraq a man who combines so many qualities as he does. May Allah bless the forbearance, knowledge, and understanding He has granted him, for he is just as the saying goes…’ ”