Ahmad Hanbal was the imam of his age; his merit is beyond all praise. When he wished to find repose from his learning and his dignity, he would go to a barefoot man. Someone who saw him before this barefoot man began to reproach him, and at last said to him: “Thou art the imam of the world; no man has been more learned than thou, so that thou dost submit to no one’s opinion, and yet thou goest to this barefoot, bareheaded man.”
O thou whom thine own injustice makes ignorant! At least admire for a moment the integrity of those whose eyes are fixed upon the spiritual path.
O thou whom thine own injustice makes ignorant! At least admire for a moment the integrity of those whose eyes are fixed upon the spiritual path.