ask him anything, so he went back to his house.

I visited him on another day, and he had again brought out the two books. I assumed that he was seeking reward in doing so, for the Book of Faith is the foundation of the religion, and the Book of Drinks turns people away from evil—for every evil arises from intoxication.

Salih said: A man to whom a child had been born sent my father a tray (1) of faludhaj, so he repaid him with sugar worth a fair number of dirhams.

Ibn Warah said: I came to Ahmad, and he produced a cup containing sawiq and said, “Drink it.”

They informed us: from Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil, from Yahya ibn Manda the ḥafiẓ; Abu al-Walid al-Darbandi informed us in the year 440 AH; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn al-Aswad in Damascus informed us; ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar al-Nahawandi informed us; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Zuran narrated to us verbatim; Ahmad ibn Jaʿfar al-Istakhri (2) narrated to us, who said:

Abu ʿAbd Allah Ahmad ibn Hanbal said, “These are the views of the people of knowledge and tradition; whoever opposes any of them or disparages those who uphold them is an innovator.

“Their statement is that faith (iman) is speech, action, and intention, coupled with adherence to the sunnah; faith increases and decreases. Whoever claims that faith is only speech and that deeds are mere legal details is a Jahmi, and whoever rejects conditionalizing one’s affirmation of faith is a Murjiʾ. Fornication, theft, murder, and idolatry all occur by decree and predestination, and no one has any claim against Allah.

“He went on to say: Paradise and Hell have both been created; thereafter the created beings for them will never perish, nor will what is in them ever come to an end.

“And he further said: Allah—exalted is He—is above the Throne, and the Footstool is the place of His feet…"