Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad said: My father and Muḥammad ibn Nūḥ were taken from Baghdad in fetters, and we travelled with them until we reached al-Anbār.

Abū Bakr al-Aḥwal asked my father, “Abū ʿAbd Allāh, if you are brought before the sword, will you give in?” He replied, “No.”

They were then sent on. I heard my father say, “We reached Raḥba⦗1⦘ and set out from it in the middle of the night. A man stopped us and asked, ‘Which of you is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?’ When he was told, ‘This is he,’ the man said to the camel driver, ‘Steady your pace.’ Then he turned to me and said, ‘Good man, what harm is there if you are killed here and enter Paradise?’ After that he declared, ‘I entrust you to Allah,’ and went on his way. I inquired about him and was told, ‘He is an Arab of Rabīʿah, a desert poet⦗2⦘ named Jābir ibn ʿĀmir, a man spoken of with praise.’”

Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī narrated: Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal said, “Since I became caught up in this ordeal, I have never heard words stronger than those of the bedouin who spoke to me at Raḥbat Ṭawq. He said, ‘Aḥmad, if the Truth kills you, you will die a martyr; and if you live, you will live with honor.’ His words fortified my heart.”

Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad further reported that his father said: “When we arrived at Adhana⦗3⦘ and departed from it in the depth of night, its gate was opened for us and a man entered, announcing, ‘Good news! The man—meaning al-Maʾmūn—has died.’ My father added, ‘I had been supplicating Allah that I might never set eyes on him.’”

Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Būshanjī said: I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say, “I noticed the answer to two of my prayers: I asked Allah not to bring me together with al-Maʾmūn…"