723 - 'Ismah ibn 'Asim informed me, saying: Hanbal said: "I wanted to write down the book of Siffin and al-Jamal from Khalaf ibn Salim, so I came to Abu 'Abd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal] to speak to him about that and ask him. He said: 'What will you do with that, when there is neither halal nor haram in it? I wrote with Khalaf when he was writing it, and I wrote the chains of narration (asanid) and left the discussions (kalam), while Khalaf wrote them [the discussions]. I was also present at the gathering of Ghundar and we met with him, so I wrote the chains of narration of the hadith of Shu'bah, and Khalaf wrote them as they were.' I said to him: 'Why did you write the chains of narration and leave the discussions?' He replied: 'I wanted to know what Shu'bah had narrated from them.' Hanbal said: 'I went to Khalaf and wrote them down, and this reached Abu 'Abd Allah, so he said to my father: "Take the book and keep it away from him; do not let him look at it.""
٧٢٣ - أَخْبَرَنِي عِصْمَةُ بْنُ عَاصِمٍ، قَالَ: قَالَ حَنْبَلٌ: أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَكْتُبَ كِتَابَ صِفِّينَ وَالْجَمَلَ عَنْ خَلَفِ بْنِ سَالِمٍ، فَأَتَيْتُ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ أُكَلِّمُهُ فِي ذَاكَ وَأَسْأَلُهُ، فَقَالَ: «وَمَا تَصْنَعُ بِذَاكَ وَلَيْسَ فِيهِ حَلَالٌ وَلَا حَرَامٌ؟ وَقَدْ كَتَبْتُ مَعَ خَلَفٍ حَيْثُ كَتَبَهُ، فَكَتَبْتُ الْأَسَانِيدَ وَتَرَكْتُ الْكَلَامَ، وَكَتَبَهَا خَلَفٌ، وَحَضَرْتُ عِنْدَ غُنْدَرٍ وَاجْتَمَعْنَا عِنْدَهُ، فَكَتَبْتُ أَسَانِيدَ حَدِيثِ شُعْبَةَ وَكَتَبَهَا خَلَفٌ عَلَى وَجْهِهَا» ، قُلْتُ لَهُ: وَلِمَ كَتَبْتَ الْأَسَانِيدَ وَتَرَكْتَ الْكَلَامَ؟ قَالَ: أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَعْرِفَ مَا رَوَى شُعْبَةُ مِنْهَا. قَالَ حَنْبَلٌ: فَأَتَيْتُ خَلَفًا فَكَتَبْتُهَا، فَبَلَغَ أَبَا عَبْدِ اللَّهِ فَقَالَ لِأَبِي: خُذِ الْكِتَابَ فَاحْبِسْهُ عَنْهُ، وَلَا تَدَعْهُ يَنْظُرُ فِيهِ "
