saying, “Here with us there are days when walnuts and lote berries (1)(2) are plentiful.” He accepted the gift and said to me, “Eat all of this.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad said: My father narrated to us—and when al-Shāfiʿī (may Allah have mercy on him) was mentioned in his presence he remarked, “He did not receive from us more benefit than we received from him.”

ʿAbd Allāh then added: “Every occurrence of the phrase, ‘The reliable one narrated to us,’ in al-Shāfiʿī’s book refers to my father.”

Al-Khallāl said: Al-Marwadhī narrated to us:

An ascetic arrived, and I ushered him in to Aḥmad. He was wearing a threadbare fur cloak, a patched cloth on his head, and he was barefoot in bitter cold. He offered the greeting of peace and said, “Abū ʿAbd Allāh, I have come from a distant land solely to greet you. I am on my way to ʿAbbādān, and if I return I hope to greet you again.”

Aḥmad replied, “If it is decreed.”

The man rose, offered another salām and departed while Abū ʿAbd Allāh remained seated. I had never seen anyone leave Abū ʿAbd Allāh before he himself rose, except this man.

Abū ʿAbd Allāh then said to me, “Do you see how much he resembles the abdal, or rather, he makes me remember the abdal (the spiritual substitutes)!”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh brought out for him four loaves split and dipped in kamakh (3) and said, “Had we anything more, we would have shared it with you.”

Al-Marwadhī also told us: I said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh, “How many people there are who pray for you!”

He answered, “I fear this may be istidrāj, a gradual enticement. Why is all of this happening?”

I told him: A man arrived from Tarsus and said, “While we were on campaign in Byzantine territory, once the night grew quiet they would raise their voices in supplication: ‘Pray for Abū ʿAbd Allāh!’ We would wind the mangonels and hurl stones on behalf of Abū ʿAbd Allāh.

“One stone was fired for him: the enemy soldier was standing on the rampart behind a pavise, and the stone took off both his head and the shield.”

At this Abū ʿAbd Allāh’s face changed and he said, “I only hope this is not istidrāj.”

I replied, “Certainly not.”