Another man then argued against me with the report transmitted by al-Tanafisī from al-Aʿmash, from Jāmiʿ, in the narration of ʿImrān ibn Ḥuṣayn which states that “Allah created the dhikr (remembrance).”
I said, “That is a mistake on his part”—meaning al-Tanafisī—“for Abū Muʿāwiyah relates it as: ‘Allah wrote the dhikr.’

“I began shouting at them and raising my voice; it was easier for me than many other trials. Allah removed all fear from my heart so that I no longer cared about them or felt awed by them. When they lost hope in persuading me and crowded around me, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān said, ‘I have never seen anyone like you, who has done what you have done.’

“I replied, ‘As for the Qur’an, we are agreed—you and I—that it is the speech of Allah. Yet you claim that it is created. Produce your proof for that, from the Book or from the Sunnah.’

“Ibn Abī Duʾād retorted, ‘Do you expect to find a text from the Book and the Sunnah for everything?’

“When he finally despaired of me he ordered, ‘Take him away.’ The Turkish guards thrust their hands into my shackles and dragged me to a distant place, and the story of the flogging was then related.”

Abū ʿAmr—ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar—told me: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Hārūn narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Kūfī likewise informed us, saying:

“I heard ʿUbayd ibn Muḥammad al-Qaṣīr say: I heard from those who were present in the assembly of Abū Isḥāq on the day Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was whipped. Abū Isḥāq said to him, ‘O Aḥmad! If you fear these upstarts, I will come with my army to your house so that I may hear hadith from you.’

“He replied, ‘O Commander of the Faithful, turn to something else. Ask about knowledge, ask about jurisprudence—why do you ask about this?’

ʿUbayd ibn Muḥammad added, ‘I also heard from those who were present in the assembly of Abū Isḥāq on the day…’