the Ḥijāz; nor did he need to add “Egyptian,” for others were better versed in Egypt’s ḥadīth than the two of them.

Al-Ṭabarānī reports: Mūsā ibn Hārūn narrated to us, saying, “I heard Ibn Rāhwayh say: When Aḥmad set out for ʿAbd al-Razzāq, his money ran out, so he hired himself to a camel-driver until he arrived in Ṣanʿāʾ. His companions offered to help him, but he would not take anything from them.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad said: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Ḥārith narrated to me: “Aḥmad passed by us, and we said to a man, ‘Follow him and see where he goes.’ The man reported back, ‘He went to Ḥannak al-Marwazī and came out again after only an hour.’ Later I asked Ḥannak, ‘Did Abū ʿAbd Allāh visit you?’ He replied, ‘He is a friend of mine. He had borrowed two hundred dirhams from me and has just returned them. I told him I had never intended to take them back, but he said, “Nor had I intended anything except to repay you.”’”

Abū Nuʿaym relates: Al-Ṭabarānī narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Barbarī narrated to us: “Al-Ḥasan al-Jarawī’s inheritance—one hundred thousand dinars—was brought to him from Egypt. He took three thousand dinars to Aḥmad, but Aḥmad would not accept them.”

Abū Nuʿaym also relates: Ḥusayn ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Shākir ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us; I heard Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Tustarī say: “They recount that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal once went three days without eating. He sent to a friend and borrowed some flour. They baked it for him quickly, and he asked, ‘What is this?’ They answered, ‘Ṣāliḥ’s oven is hot, so we baked it there.’ He said, ‘Take it away,’ and ordered that the doorway between him and Ṣāliḥ be sealed.”

(I say: This was because Ṣāliḥ had accepted a reward from the caliph al-Mutawakkil.)

Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn said, “I have never seen anyone like Aḥmad. We kept his company for fifty years, and he never boasted to us about any of the good that was in him.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad said: “My father used to recite one-seventh of the Qur’an every day, and he would take a brief nap.”