“Come in.”
He stepped into the entranceway and I asked, “From where have you come?”
He answered, “From the East; I am bound for the coast. Were it not for your presence here I would never have entered this town. I simply intended to greet you.”
I said, “In this condition of yours?”
He replied, “Yes. Tell me—what is renunciation of the world?”
I said, “Keeping one’s hopes short.”
I could only marvel at him, saying to myself, “I have neither gold nor silver to give him.”
So I went inside, took four loaves of bread, and came out to him. He said, “O Abū ʿAbd Allāh, would it please you if I accept this?”
I answered, “Yes.”
He took the loaves, tucked them under his arm, and said, “I hope they will suffice me until I reach al-Raqqah. I entrust you to Allah.”
My father would recall him often.

With this same chain, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad wrote to me, “I heard my father, when the matter of the world was mentioned, say, ‘A little of it is enough, while a great deal of it is never enough.’”

My father also said—when poverty was mentioned in his presence—“Poverty together with righteousness.”

With this chain, Ṣāliḥ narrated: “My father ceased corresponding with Ibn Rāhwayh after he had taken his book to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir and read it to him.”

And with this chain, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī ʿUmar al-Bakrī reported, “I heard ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Maymūnī say, ‘I do not know that I have ever seen anyone cleaner of body, more diligent in trimming his moustache, the hair of his head and body, or wearing purer, more dazzlingly white clothes than Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—may Allah have mercy on him.

“His garments steered a middle course. His cloak cost fifteen dirhams, while the cloth for his shirt would be bought for about one dinar. It was neither so fine as to be reproachable nor so coarse as to be reproachable, and his cloak was neatly finished.’”

With this chain, Ṣāliḥ narrated: “I would sometimes see my father gathering crumbs, shaking the dust from them, placing them in a bowl, pouring water over them, and then eating them with salt. I never saw him purchase pomegranates, quinces, or any other fruit, save that he might buy a watermelon—and he would eat that.”