living under al-Wāthiq, when Yaʿqūb came by night with a letter from the governor Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm addressed to Abū ʿAbd Allāh:

“The governor says to you: The Commander of the Believers has remembered you. Let no one gather around you, and do not reside in any land or city where I am present. Go wherever you wish in God’s earth.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh therefore went into hiding for the rest of al-Wāthiq’s life. It was the time of that tribulation, and Aḥmad ibn Naṣr al-Khuzaʿī was put to death (1). He remained secluded in the house, not venturing out for prayer or for anything else, until al-Wāthiq died.

Ibrāhīm ibn Hāniʾ related: “Abū ʿAbd Allāh concealed himself with me for three days, then said, ‘Find a place for me.’ I replied, ‘I fear for your safety.’ He said, ‘Do it; when you have done so, I will inform you.’ I sought out a place for him, and when he left he remarked, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ hid in the cave for three days and then moved on’ (2).”

It is astonishing that Abū al-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan, the ḥāfiẓ (3), recorded Aḥmad’s biography at great length—as is his custom—yet did not cite a single word about the Ordeal, even though its chains of transmission are sound (4). Hanbal compiled the events in two booklets, and so did Ṣāliḥ ibn Aḥmad and others.

Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Munādī said: “My grandfather, Abū Jaʿfar, narrated to me, ‘I met Abā…’”