—even in his passing thoughts and every subtle movement—yet only three or four people offered the funeral prayer for him (1). To Allah belongs the command, before and after.

Al-Bayhaqi relates, on the authority of Ḥajjāj ibn Muḥammad al-Shāʿir, that he said: “I would not have wished to be killed in the path of Allah had I not first performed the funeral prayer over Imām Aḥmad.”

He also transmits from a scholar who said on the day Aḥmad was buried: “Today the sixth of five has been laid to rest. They are Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, and ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz—may Allah be pleased with them.”

At the time of his death—may Allah have mercy on him—he was seventy-seven years old, lacking only a few days to complete a month.

Reports of the righteous dreams that Imām Aḥmad himself saw and that were seen concerning him

A sound hadith states: “Nothing remains of prophethood except the glad tidings” (2); in another wording: “ … except the righteous dream that a believer sees or is seen for him” (3).

Al-Bayhaqi, through al-Ḥākim, reports: I heard ʿAlī ibn Ḥamshādh say: I heard Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn say: I heard Salamah ibn Shabīb say: We were with Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal when an elderly man arrived, leaning on a staff, greeted us, and sat down. He asked, “Which of you is Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal?” Aḥmad replied, “I am; what is your need?” He answered, “I have journeyed to you from four hundred farsakhs (4). I saw al-Khidr in a dream, and he said to me, ‘Travel to Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal (5), ask after him, and say to him: The Lord of the Throne and the angels are pleased with you for the patience you showed for Allah—Exalted is He—(6).’”

Abū ʿAbd Allah Muḥammad ibn Khuzaymah al-Iskandarānī related: “When Aḥmad died I was overcome by intense grief. Later I saw him in a dream, walking with a proud, swaying gait. I said to him, ‘O Abū ʿAbd Allah, what manner of walk is this?’ He replied, ‘It is the walk of the attendants in the Abode…’”