So when al-Shāfiʿī returned to his gathering and noticed that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was the finest among them, he spoke to him about the matter and said, “Get yourself ready so that I may take you in to the Commander of the Faithful.”

Aḥmad replied, “I have come only to seek knowledge from you, and now you want to push me into the judiciary!” He censured him, and al-Shāfiʿī felt embarrassed.

I say: its chain of transmission is obscure.

Ibn al-Jawzī said: It is said that this occurred during the reign of al-Amīn.

Ibn Nāṣir informed us; ʿAbd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad informed us; al-Barmakī informed us; Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz informed us; al-Khallāl informed us; Muḥammad ibn Abī Hārūn informed us; al-Athram narrated:

I was told that al-Shāfiʿī said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh, “The Commander of the Faithful—meaning Muḥammad—has asked me to look for a judge for Yemen. You wish to travel to ʿAbd al-Razzāq, so your aim would be achieved and you could judge with justice.”

Aḥmad said to al-Shāfiʿī, “Abū ʿAbd Allāh, if I hear this from you again, you will not see me with you.”

The narrator added, “I thought Abū ʿAbd Allāh was thirty years old, or perhaps twenty-seven.”

Al-Ṣandalī reported: Abū Jaʿfar al-Tirmidhī narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Balkhī informed us:

Al-Shāfiʿī used to visit Muḥammad ibn Zubayda—namely, al-Amīn—frequently. One day Muḥammad voiced his distress at not finding a Sunni who was fit for the judiciary.

Al-Shāfiʿī said, “You have found him.”

He asked, “Who is he?”

He named Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.

When Aḥmad met him, he said, “Please drop this and excuse me; otherwise, I will leave the city.”

Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad said: Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh wrote to me:

The governor ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṭāhir summoned me. I went in to him holding a letter from Abū ʿAbd Allāh. He asked, “What is this?”

I replied, “A letter from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.”

He took it, read it, and said, “Indeed, I love him,”