"I came to the Prophet ﷺ and spread out my garment next to him, then he took it and gathered it at my heart, so I did not forget after that [any Hadith]."  

أَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ فَبَسَطْتُ ثَوْبِي عِنْدَهُ ثُمَّ أَخَذَهُ فَجَمَعَهُ عَلَى قَلْبِي فَمَا نَسِيتُ بَعْدَهُ حَدِيثًا  

"I said: 'O Messenger of Allah, I hear from you things that I do not remember.' He said: 'Spread your cloak.' So I spread it, then he narrated many Ahadith, and I did not forget a thing that he reported to me.'"  

قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَسْمَعُ مِنْكَ أَشْيَاءَ فَلاَ أَحْفَظُهَا قَالَ ابْسُطْ رِدَاءَكَ فَبَسَطْتُ فَحَدَّثَ حَدِيثًا كَثِيرًا فَمَا نَسِيتُ شَيْئًا حَدَّثَنِي بِهِ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ وَ قَدْ رُوِيَ مِنْ غَيْرِ وَجْهٍ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ  

that Ibn 'Umar said to Abu Hurairah: "You used to stick to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ most out of all of us, and you used to best memorize his Ahadith out of us."  

أَنَّهُ قَالَ لأَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ يَا أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ أَنْتَ كُنْتَ أَلْزَمَنَا لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَأَحْفَظَنَا لِحَدِيثِهِ  

"A man came to Talhah bin 'Ubaidullah and said: 'O Abu Muhammad, do you see this Yemeni - meaning: Abu Hurairah - is he more knowledgeable of the Ahadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than you? We hear from him what we do not hear from you, or does he attribute to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what he did not say?' He said: 'As for his having heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what we did not hear from him, then that is because he was poor, having nothing, a guest of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his hand was in the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And we used to be people of houses and wealth, and we used to come to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at the two ends of the day. I do not doubt that he heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what we did not hear, and you will not find anyone in whom there is good attributing to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what he did not say.'"  

يَا أَبَا مُحَمَّدٍ أَرَأَيْتَ هَذَا الْيَمَانِيَ يَعْنِي أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِحَدِيثِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ مِنْكُمْ نَسْمَعُ مِنْهُ مَا لاَ نَسْمَعُ مِنْكُمْ أَوْ يَقُولُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ مَا لَمْ يَقُلْ قَالَ أَمَّا أَنْ يَكُونَ سَمِعَ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ مَا لَمْ نَسْمَعْ فَلاَ أَشُكُّ إِلاَّ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ مَا لَمْ نَسْمَعْ وَذَاكَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِسْكِينًا لاَ شَىْءَ لَهُ ضَيْفًا لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَدُهُ مَعَ يَدِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ وَكُنَّا نَحْنُ أَهْلَ بُيُوتَاتٍ وَغِنًى وَكُنَّا نَأْتِي رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ طَرَفَىِ النَّهَارِ فَلاَ نَشُكُّ إِلاَّ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ مِنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ مَا لَمْ نَسْمَعْ وَلاَ نَجِدُ أَحَدًا فِيهِ خَيْرٌ يَقُولُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ مَا لَمْ يَقُلْ  

"The Prophet ﷺ said to me: 'Who are you from?' I said: 'From Daws.' He said: 'I did not used think there was anyone from Daws in whom there was good.'"  

قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ مِمَّنْ أَنْتَ قَالَ قُلْتُ مِنْ دَوْسٍ قَالَ مَا كُنْتُ أُرَى أَنَّ فِي دَوْسٍ أَحَدًا فِيهِ خَيْرٌ  

"I came to the Prophet ﷺ with some dates and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, supplicate to Allah to bless them.' So he took them and supplicated for me for blessing in them, and then said to me: 'Take them and put them in this bag of yours - or this bag - and whenever you intend to take any from it, then put your hand in it and take it, and do not scatter them all about.' So I carried such and such Wasq of those dates in the cause of Allah. We used to eat from it, and give others to eat, and it (the bag) would not part from my waist until the day 'Uthman was killed, for they had run out."  

أَتَيْتُ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ بِتَمَرَاتٍ فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ادْعُ اللَّهَ فِيهِنَّ بِالْبَرَكَةِ فَضَمَّهُنَّ ثُمَّ دَعَا لِي فِيهِنَّ بِالْبَرَكَةِ فَقَالَ لِي خُذْهُنَّ وَاجْعَلْهُنَّ فِي مِزْوَدِكَ هَذَا أَوْ فِي هَذَا الْمِزْوَدِ كُلَّمَا أَرَدْتَ أَنْ تَأْخُذَ مِنْهُ شَيْئًا فَأَدْخِلْ فِيهِ يَدَكَ فَخُذْهُ وَلاَ تَنْثُرْهُ نَثْرًا فَقَدْ حَمَلْتُ مِنْ ذَلِكَ التَّمْرِ كَذَا وَكَذَا مِنْ وَسْقٍ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَكُنَّا نَأْكُلُ مِنْهُ وَنُطْعِمُ وَكَانَ لاَ يُفَارِقُ حَقْوِي حَتَّى كَانَ يَوْمُ قَتْلِ عُثْمَانَ فَإِنَّهُ انْقَطَعَ  

"I said to Abu Hurairah: 'Why were you given the Kunyah Abu Hurairah?' He said: 'Do you not fear me?'" He said: "Indeed, I am in awe of you.' He said: 'I used to tend the sheep of my people, and I had a small kitten; so I used to place it in a tree at night, and during the day I would take it with me and play with it. So they named me Abu Hurairah.'"  

قُلْتُ لأَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ لِمَ كُنِّيتَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ أَمَا تَفْرَقُ مِنِّي قُلْتُ بَلَى وَاللَّهِ إِنِّي لأَهَابُكَ قَالَ كُنْتُ أَرْعَى غَنَمَ أَهْلِي فَكَانَتْ لِي هُرَيْرَةٌ صَغِيرَةٌ فَكُنْتُ أَضَعُهَا بِاللَّيْلِ فِي شَجَرَةٍ فَإِذَا كَانَ النَّهَارُ ذَهَبْتُ بِهَا مَعِي فَلَعِبْتُ بِهَا فَكَنَّوْنِي أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ غَرِيبٌ  

"There is none with more Ahadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than I, except for 'Abdullah bin 'Amr, for he used to write, (the Ahadith) and I did not used to write."  

عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ مِنِّي إِلاَّ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عَمْرٍو فَإِنَّهُ كَانَ يَكْتُبُ وَكُنْتُ لاَ أَكْتُبُ