He also used to say, “A servant should accept the provision that comes to him after he has despaired of it, but he should not take it if it is preceded by covetous expectation.” (1) He loved to live with little (2) so that his reckoning might be lighter.

Ibrahim reported that a man once asked Ahmad, “Did you acquire this knowledge purely for Allah?” He replied, “That is a very exacting stipulation; rather, something was made dear to me, so I collected it.” (3)

Al-Bayhaqi narrates that a man came to Ahmad and said, “My mother has been bedridden and unable to walk for twenty years. She has sent me to you so that you might supplicate Allah for her.” Ahmad seemed displeased and said, “We are in greater need that she pray for us.” Nevertheless, he then prayed to Allah—Exalted is He—on her behalf. The man returned to his mother, knocked on the door, and she came out to him on her own feet, saying, “Allah has granted me well-being.” (5)

Another report states that a beggar once asked, and Imam Ahmad gave him a small piece of money. A man rose and said to the beggar, “Give me that piece and I shall give you something in exchange worth a dirham.” The beggar refused. The man went up to fifty, and still he refused, saying, “I hope for the blessing of that coin just as you hope for its blessing.” (6)

Al-Bayhaqi—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

Chapter: What has been related concerning the trial (miḥnah) of Abū ʿAbd Allah Ahmad ibn Ḥanbal—may Allah have mercy on him—during the caliphates of al-Maʾmūn, then al-Muʿtaṣim, then al-Wāthiq, on account of the Qur’an; what he endured of lengthy imprisonment, severe beating, threats of death with grievous torment and painful punishment; his lack of concern for all that they inflicted upon him; his patience in the face of it and his steadfast adherence to the upright religion and the straight path. He—may Allah have mercy on him—had heard the recited verses and well-known reports (7) that speak of situations like his, and he was informed—both in dreams and while awake—of what he was advised to do. He therefore accepted and submitted with faith and hopeful anticipation, and he attained the good of this world and the bliss of the Hereafter. May Allah congratulate him for what He granted him in reaching the loftiest ranks of those tried for Allah’s sake among His friends, and may He join to him his lovers in the honor he received from Allah—if Allah wills—without any trial. With Allah lies success and protection.