Muḥammad ibn al-Faraj—who lived next door to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—recounted:

“When the ordeal that struck Aḥmad struck him, I was overwhelmed with sorrow. That night I was shown a vision, and someone said to me, ‘Are you not pleased that, in Allah’s sight, Aḥmad enjoys the same rank as Abū al-Sawwār al-ʿAdawī? Do you yourself not transmit his story?’

Muḥammad ibn al-Faraj went on: ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim narrated to us, from Biṣṭām ibn Muslim, from al-Ḥasan, who said:

“One of the pampered nobles of this community invited Abū al-Sawwār al-ʿAdawī and asked him about a point of religion. Abū al-Sawwār answered according to what he knew, but the man was dissatisfied and said, ‘If you do not retract, you are outside Islam!’

“Abū al-Sawwār replied, ‘To what religion, then, should I flee?’

“The man continued, ‘If not, your wife is divorced!’

“Abū al-Sawwār asked, ‘Then with whom shall I find shelter tonight?’

“So the man ordered that he be flogged with forty lashes.

“Afterward I went to Abū ʿAbd Allāh (Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal) and informed him of what had happened, and it pleased him.”

This report was also transmitted by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad from Muḥammad ibn al-Faraj in abridged form.

Abū al-Sawwār is Ḥassān ibn Ḥurayth, a transmitter from ʿAlī and others.

Hammād ibn Zayd related, on the authority of Hishām:

“Whenever a man met Abū al-Sawwār and reviled him, he would reply, ‘If I am as you say, then indeed I am a wicked man.’ ”

Abū Nuʿaym reported: Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ḥubaysh told us, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Isḥāq al-Madāʾinī informed us, my father narrated:

“I saw in a dream that the Black Stone split open and a banner emerged from it. I asked, ‘What is this?’ It was said, ‘Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal has pledged allegiance to Allah.’ ”

A group of people heard Salamah ibn Shabīb say:

“We were sitting with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal when a man arrived and asked, ‘Which of you is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?’

“We kept silent. Aḥmad said, ‘I am Aḥmad; what is your need?’

“The man replied, ‘I have travelled to you from four hundred farsakhs, by land and by sea. Al-Khiḍr came to me in a dream and asked, “Do you know Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?” I said, “No.” He said, “Go to Baghdad, ask for him, and say to him: al-Khiḍr conveys his greetings and says that—”’