Ibn Baṭṭah reported: Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb narrated to us, Ibrahim al-Ḥarbī narrated to us, saying, “I heard Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal say to Aḥmad al-Wakīʿī:

‘Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, I truly love you. Yahya narrated to us, from Thawr, from Ḥabīb ibn ʿUbayd, from al-Miqdām, who said:

The Prophet ﷺ said, “When one of you loves his brother, let him inform him.’ (1)”

Ibn Baṭṭah also reported: Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Qāfalanī narrated to us, Isḥāq ibn Hāniʾ narrated, saying:

“We were with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal in his house, and with him were al-Marwadhī and Muhannā. Someone knocked at the door and called out, ‘Is al-Marwadhī here?’

It seemed al-Marwadhī disliked having his whereabouts known, so Muhannā placed a finger in the palm of his own hand and said, ‘Al-Marwadhī is not here; what would al-Marwadhī be doing here anyway?’

Aḥmad laughed and did not object.

Concerning his livelihood:

Ibn al-Jawzī said: “His father left him a ṭirāz workshop and a house to live in. He would rent out the workshop and maintain his independence through its income.”

Ibn al-Munādī said: “My grandfather narrated to us that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal told me:

‘I measure this house and pay its zakat every year; in this I follow ʿUmar’s ruling on the land of al-Sawād (2).’”