Ahmad ibn Marwan al-Dinawari reported: Idris al-Haddad narrated to us, saying, “Whenever times became hard for Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he would hire himself out to the weavers, straightening their yarn for them. During the days of the mihna (the Inquisition), when he was finally sent home, a large sum of money was brought to him, yet he returned it even though he did not have so much as a single loaf of bread. His uncle Ishaq began adding up what he had declined, and it came to roughly 500,000.

He then said, ‘Uncle, had we gone after it, it would never have reached us; it only came to us because we left it alone.’

Al-Bayhaqi said: Abu ‘Abd Allah al-Hafiz informed us, al-Zubayr ibn ‘Abd al-Wahid al-Hafiz narrated to us, Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd al-Wahid al-Baladi narrated to us, and I heard Ja‘far ibn Muhammad al-Tayalisi say:

“Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Yahya ibn Ma‘in once prayed in the Rusafa Mosque. A storyteller rose and announced, ‘Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Yahya ibn Ma‘in have related to us that they said:

"‘Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us; Ma‘mar narrated to us, from Qatadah, from Anas:

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘Whoever says, La ilaha illa Allah, Allah creates from each word a bird whose beak is of gold and whose feathers are of coral.’”

He then launched into a tale that filled nearly twenty pages ⦗1⦘. Meanwhile Ahmad kept looking at Yahya, and Yahya kept looking at Ahmad, until one of them asked, ‘Did you tell him this?’

The other replied, ‘By Allah, I never heard of it until this very moment.’

They remained silent until the storyteller finished and had gathered his takings. Yahya then beckoned to him, ‘Come here.’ Expecting a reward, the man approached.

Yahya asked, ‘Who narrated this to you?’

He answered, ‘Ahmad and Ibn Ma‘in.’

Yahya said, ‘I am Yahya, and this is Ahmad. We—’