Ibn al-Jawzī likewise transmitted the full account through another obscure chain of transmission that ends with ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Qaṣrī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who said that he saw the very same vision.
Shaykh al-Islām al-Anṣārī said: I heard one of the people of Bākharz—an outlying district of Nīshāpūr—relate the following:
“I saw in a dream as though the Resurrection had begun. There was a man upon a horse whose beauty is known only to God, and a herald was calling out: ‘Let no one precede him today!’
I asked, ‘Who is this man?’
They answered, ‘Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal.’ ”
Abū ʿUmar al-Sammāk reported: Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad ibn Mahdī narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Kindī narrated to us; he said:
“I saw Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal in a dream and asked him, ‘What has God done with you?’
He replied, ‘He has forgiven me.’
Then He—Exalted is He—said to me, ‘O Aḥmad, you were beaten for My sake.’
I said, ‘Yes.’
He said, ‘This is My Face; gaze upon it. I have permitted you to look at it.’ ”
Shaykh al-Islām transmitted a similar narration through another obscure chain that reaches ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, stating that he too saw something of that nature.
In the work The Virtues of Aḥmad by Shaykh al-Islām, an obscure chain leads to ʿAlī ibn al-Muwaffaq, who said:
“I dreamed that I had entered Paradise, and there were three men. One was seated at a table while God had appointed two angels to attend him: one offering him food and the other drink. Another stood at the gate of Paradise, examining the faces of people and admitting them to it. A third stood in the midst of Paradise, his gaze fixed upon the Throne, beholding the Lord—Glorified and Exalted.
I said to Riḍwān, the gatekeeper of Paradise, ‘Who are these men?’
He replied, ‘The one seated is Bishr al-Ḥāfī; he left the world hungry and thirsty. The one standing in the midst is Maʿrūf; he worshipped God out of longing to behold Him, and his wish was granted. The one at the gate is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal; he has been commanded to look at the faces of the people of the Sunnah and usher them into Paradise.’ ”