101 - Muhammad ibn Abi Harun informed me, saying: Ishaq ibn Ibrahim ibn Hani' informed us, saying: Abu Abd Allah [Ahmad ibn Hanbal] said: "Ibn Umar, Sa'd, and whoever refrained from that [140] tribulation, is he not considered more praiseworthy in the view of some people?" Then he said: "This was Ali, may Allah have mercy on him, who could not control the people, so how [would it be] today, with the people in this state and similar to it? And the sword [i.e., taking up arms in conflict] does not please me either."