and that he was weak. This reply was conveyed to the Caliph, who then sent word commanding him in the strongest terms to come. He also wrote to Aḥmad, saying, “I wish to take comfort in your company (1) and to obtain the blessing of your supplication.”
Imam Aḥmad—though ailing—set out (2) with his sons and a few of his relatives. When he drew near the army encampment, Wāṣif the chamberlain met him with a magnificent procession. He greeted the Imam, and the Imam returned the greeting. Wāṣif then said, “Allah has now given you power over your enemy Ibn Abī Duwād.” Aḥmad offered no reply, while his son kept praying for the Caliph and for Wāṣif.
When they reached the camp at Sāmarrāʾ, Aḥmad was lodged in the house of Ītākh. On learning this, he departed from it and ordered that another house be rented for him.
Each day the leading amirs came to convey the Caliph’s greetings; they would not enter until they had removed (3) all their finery and weapons. The Caliph sent him fresh bedding and other furnishings suited to that grand residence. He also wished Aḥmad to remain there to teach ḥadith, so that people might recover what they had missed during the ordeal and the long years that followed, when he had been secluded in his home and attended neither the congregational prayers nor even Jumuʿah. Aḥmad excused himself, saying that he was sick, that his teeth were loose, and that he was weak.
Every day the Caliph dispatched a table laden with assorted foods, fruit, and ice—worth about one hundred and twenty dirhams daily—thinking that Aḥmad was eating from it. In fact, Aḥmad did not taste any of it at all; he was keeping a continuous fast. Though ill, he passed eight days without taking any food, until his son adjured him, whereupon—after eight days—he drank a little sawiq (barley gruel).
ʿUbayd Allah ibn Yaḥyā ibn Khāqān then brought him a large sum of money from the Caliph as a gift, but Aḥmad refused to accept it. The emir pressed him, yet he would not take it. The emir therefore distributed the money among Aḥmad’s children and relatives, saying, “The Caliph’s gift cannot be returned.”
The Caliph also decreed a monthly allowance of four thousand dirhams for his household and children, but Abū ʿAbd Allah objected. The Caliph said, “It must be so, and it is only for your children.” Aḥmad fell silent, then turned to admonish his family and cousins, saying, “Only a few days remain to us, and death is upon us; thereafter it is either Paradise or Hell (4),” and he went on at length, exhorting them.
They argued with him, citing the authentic ḥadith:
“Whoever receives something from this wealth when he has neither asked for it nor yearned for it, let him accept it” (5),
and reminding him that Ibn ʿUmar and Ibn ʿAbbās had accepted gifts from the ruler.
He replied, “This is not…"