I have not seen the like of Ahmad b. Hanbal and we have been his companion for fifty years. He was never proud or arrogant towards us because of his righteousness and goodness.
—Yahya b. Ma’een describing Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal
[Manaqib al-Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, p. 366 / Ahilyah al-Awyliya’, 1819]
(Read on pg 90, Salahuddin Ali Abdul Mawjood, The Biography of Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal. Darussalam. Riyadh: 2006.)