I made salaam and called out, “May I enter?” Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) replied, “No.” A few moments later, he called out, “Now you may enter.” I then entered and noticed that Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) was covering his body with a piece of old, woolen cloth. I asked him, “Why did you initially prevent me from entering?” Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) replied, “I needed to cover my body.” Hearing this, I asked him, “What is the matter?” He answered, “My clothes have been stolen.”

I hastened to my home and returned to Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) with a hundred dirhams which I presented to him as a gift. However, Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) refused to accept it. I thus offered him to take the money as a loan, but he still refused. Thinking that he perhaps considered the amount too much, I offered him to take less, until I offered him to take just twenty dirhams, but he still refused.

Finally, I stood and said to him, “It is not correct for you to allow yourself to perish in this manner.” As I was leaving, Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) called me back and asked, “Have you not been listening to the Ahaadith of ibn ‘Uyainah (rahimahullah) with me?” When I answered in the affirmative, he next asked, “Would you like me to write those Ahaadith for you?” I replied, “Yes.” He thus said to me, “Purchase some paper for me.”

Imaam Ahmed (rahimahullah) thereafter wrote the Ahaadith in exchange of a few dirhams which he used to buy two pieces of clothing.

(Siyar A’laam min Nubalaa vol. 9 pg. 443)