However, when I would go to Abu ‘Abdillah, Imaam Ahmed bin Hambal (rahimahullah), and ask him, “O Abu ‘Abdillah! How do you find your condition?” he would merely reply, “I am well.” Hence, I one day remarked to him, “Your brother Bishr (rahimahullah) is sick, and when I ask him of his condition, he commences by praising Allah Ta‘ala and thereafter informs me of his state.” When he heard this, Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) said, “Ask him who he learnt this practice from.” To this instruction, I responded, “I am afraid to ask him.” Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) thus said to me, “Tell him ‘your brother, Abu ‘Abdillah, asks who you learnt this practice from.’”

When I thereafter went to Bishr (rahimahullah), I conveyed to him the question of Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah). Hearing the question, he said, “Abu ‘Abdillah will not practice on anything without first determining who it comes from. Ibn ‘Auwn (rahimahullah) narrated to me that ibn Seereen (rahimahullah) said, ‘When the servant praises Allah Ta‘ala before complaining, then his statement is not regarded as a complaint.’ When I inform you of any condition that I am undergoing, then I only do so in order to show you the power that Allah Ta‘ala has over me.

Receiving this answer, I left Bishr (rahimahullah) and proceeded to Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah), informing him of what Bishr (rahimahullah) had said. From that day onwards, whenever I would go to Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah), he would say, “I praise Allah Ta‘ala to you.” Only after praising Allah Ta‘ala, would he mention to me any difficulty that he was experiencing.

(Manaaqib Imaam Ahmed libnil Jowzi pg. 245)