Al-Bayhaqī said, “This was because Ṣāliḥ had accepted the gratuity of al-Mutawakkil ʿalā Allah.”

ʿAbd Allah related: “My father remained with the caliph’s army for sixteen days, during which he ate nothing but a quarter of a mudd of sawīq (parched barley flour). Every three nights he would break his fast with only a single pinch (1) of it. When he finally returned home, his strength did not come back for six months; I saw that the rims of his eyes had sunk (2) into their sockets.”

Al-Bayhaqī added: “The caliph would send abundant food from his table (3), yet Aḥmad never touched any of it. Once the caliph al-Maʾmūn sent a quantity of gold to be divided among the scholars of hadith; none of them declined except Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal—he refused outright.”

Sulaymān al-Shādhakūnī said: “I was with Aḥmad when he had pawned a bucket with a fāmī (4) in Yemen. When the time came to redeem it, the man brought out two buckets and said, ‘Take your property.’ Unsure which one was his, Aḥmad told him, ‘You are absolved of it and of the pledge,’ and left it behind (5).”

ʿAbd Allah also narrated: “During the reign of al-Wāthiq we were in severe hardship. A man wrote to my father, ‘I have four thousand dirhams that I inherited from my father; they are neither charity nor zakah. If you agree, please accept them.’ My father refused, and though the man repeated the offer, he still declined. Some time later we recalled the matter and he said, ‘Had we accepted it, it would have been spent by now (6).’ ”

A merchant once offered him ten thousand dirhams that he had earned as profit from merchandise recorded in Aḥmad’s name, but Aḥmad would not accept them, saying, “We have enough. May Allah reward you for your good intention.”

Another merchant offered him three thousand dinars; he likewise refused, stood up, and left.

When Aḥmad’s funds ran out in Yemen, his teacher ʿAbd al-Razzāq offered him a handful of dinars. He replied, “We are sufficiently provided for,” and would not accept them.

His clothes were stolen while he was in Yemen, so he stayed inside his house and locked the door. When his companions missed him, they came and asked what had happened, and he told them. They offered him gold, but he refused; he accepted only a single dinar so that he might buy writing materials for them, and he wrote for them solely seeking the reward—may Allah have mercy on him.