were doing, and they said, ‘We’re waiting to hear what Aḥmad says so we can write it down.’”
He told them to stay where they were, then went back inside, where Aḥmad was still hanging between the posts. He told him that he had seen a crowd of people holding pen and paper and waiting to write down whatever he would say.
“Can I mislead all those people?” asked Aḥmad. “I’d rather kill myself.”108
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قلت: هذا رجل هانت عليه نفسه في الله تعالى فبذلها كما هانت على بلال نفسه، وقد روينا عن سعيد بن المُسَيَّب أنه كانت نفسه عليه في الله تعالى أهون من نفس ذُباب. وإنما تهون أنفسهم عليهم لتلمّحهم العواقب فعيون البصائر ناظرة إلى المآل لا إلى الحال، وشدّة ابتلاء أحمد دليل على قوّة دينه لأنه قد صحّ عن النبي صلّى الله عليه وسلّم أنّه قال: يُبْتَلَى الرّجلُ على حَسَبِ دِيِنه فسبحان من أيّده وبَصّره وقوّاه ونصره.
[The author:] Here then is a man who, like Bilāl, was willing to give up his life for the sake of his God.109 Of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, similarly, it is reported that his life meant as little to him as the life of a fly. Such indifference to self is possible only when one has glimpsed the life that lies beyond this one and trained one’s gaze on the future rather than the present. Aḥmad’s great suffering is evidence of his strong faith, for, as the Prophet is known to have said, “A man suffers in proportion to his faith.” Praise the One who helped Aḥmad, granted him the gift of perception, strengthened his resolve, and came to his aid.
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أخبرنا محمّد بن ناصر قال: أنبأنا الحسن بن أحمد الفقيه قال: أخبرنا عُبيد الله بن أحمد قال: حدثنا أبو بكر محمّد بن عبيد الله الكاتب قال: حدثنا أبو عليّ الحسن بن محمّد بن عثمان الفَسَوي قال: حدثني داوود بن عَرَفة قال:
حدثنا مَيْمون بن الأصبَغ قال: كنتُ ببغداد فسمعتُ ضجّة فقلت: ما هذا؟
فقالوا: أحمد بن حنبل يُمتحَن. فأتيتُ منزلي فأخذت مالاً له خطر فذهبت به إلى من يُدخلني إلى المجلس فأدخلوني.
فإذا بالسيوف قد جُرِّدت وبالرّماح قد رُكزت وبالتِّراس قد نُصبت وبالسياط قد طُرحت فألبسوني قَباء أسود ومنطقة وسيفًا ووقفوني حيث أسمع الكلام.
فأتى أمير المؤمنين فجلس على كرسي وأُتي بأحمد بن حنبل فقال له: وقرابتي من رسول الله صلّى الله عليه وسلّم لأضربنّك بالسياط أو تقول كما أقول. ثم التفت إلى جلاد فقال: خُذه إليك! فأخذه.
فلما ضُرب سوطًا قال: بسم الله.
فلما ضُرب الثاني قال: لا حول ولا قُوة إلا بالله.
فلما ضُرب الثالث قال: القُرآن كلام الله غير مخلوق.
فلما ضُرب الرابع قال: {قُل لَن يُصيبَنَا إلاَّ مَا كَتَبَ اللهُ لنَا}. فضربه تسعةً وعشرين سوطًا.
وكانت تِكّة أحمد حاشية ثوب فانقطعت فنزل السراويل إلى عانته فقلتُ: الساعة ينهتك.
فرمى أحمدُ طرفه نحو السماء وحرّك شفتيه فما كان بأسرع من أن بقي السراويل لم ينزل.
قال ميمون: فدخلت إليه بعد سبعة أيّام فقلت: يا أبا عبد الله رأيتك يوم ضربوك قد انحلّ سراويلك فرفعتَ طرفك نحو السماء ورأيتك تحرّك شفتيك فأيّ شيء قلت؟
قال: قلت: اللهّم إِني أسألك باسمك الذي ملأت به العرش إن كنت تعلم أنّي على الصواب فلا تهتك لي سِتْرًا.
We cite Muḥammad ibn Nāṣir, who was informed by al-Ḥasan ibn Aḥmad al-Faqīh, who cites ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Aḥmad, who heard Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Kātib report that he heard Abū ʿAlī l-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān al-Fasawī report that he heard Dāwūd ibn ʿArafah report that he heard Maymūn ibn al-Aṣbagh report:
[Ibn al-Aṣbagh:] I was in Baghdad and heard a clamor. I asked what it was about and people told me that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was being tried. So I went home, collected a substantial sum of money, and bribed my way into the session. Inside the palace, I saw soldiers with their swords drawn, their spears fixed, their shields planted, and their whips at the ready. I was fitted out with a black cloak, a sash, and a sword, and given a seat close enough that I could hear what was being said.
The caliph appeared and seated himself in a chair. Then Ibn Ḥanbal was brought in.
“I swear by my ancestor the Prophet,” said the caliph, “that if you don’t say as I say, I’ll have you flogged!”
Turning to the lictor, he said, “Take him away!”
At the first blow, Aḥmad said, “In the name of God!”
At the second, he said, “There is no might or power except by God!”
At the third, he said, “The Qurʾan is the speech of God, and uncreated!”
At the fourth he said, “«Say: we will suffer only what God has decreed for us!»”110
The lictor had struck him twenty-nine lashes when Aḥmad’s trouser cord—which was made of nothing more than a strip of garment lining—broke. His trousers slipped down as far as his groin.
“He’ll be left with nothing on,” I thought to myself. But then he looked up to the heavens and moved his lips. Instantly the trousers stopped slipping and remained in place.
Seven days later, I went to see him. “Aḥmad,” I asked, “I was there the day they beat you and your trousers came apart. I saw you look up and move your lips. What were you saying?”
He