Abu Sa‘eed Al-Mu’addib once mentioned the following to ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah), the son of Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah):
I would come to your father and he would give me three dirhams. Sometimes he would give me a little more than that and sometimes he would give me a little less than that. He would sit with me and speak to me. On some occasions, he would give me something and would thereafter mention, “I have given you half of what we have with us.”
Once, I came to him and we sat together for a lengthy period. Thereafter, he brought to me four loaves of bread under his shawl and gave them to me saying, “This is half of what we have with us.” I responded saying, “Four loaves from you is more beloved to me than four thousand from any other person.”
(Siyar A’laam min Nubalaa vol. 11 pg. 218)
From this incident, we can gauge the generosity of Imaam Ahmed bin Hambal (rahimahullah).