The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me to Halaq the Christian to request that he send him some garments on credit until a time of ease. I came to him and said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has sent me to you so that you may send him some garments on credit until a time of ease."He replied, "What is this 'time of ease,' and when will this 'time of ease' come? By Allah, Muhammad has no flock being driven nor any herd being grazed."So I returned and came to the Prophet ﷺ. When he saw me, he said, "The enemy of Allah has lied. I am the best of those with whom one can do business. For one of you to wear a garment patched together from various scraps is better for him than to take, on the strength of his trustworthiness, what he does not possess."Abu Abdul-Rahman said, I found this hadith in my father's book in his own handwriting.
حدثنا محمد بن يزيد حدثنا أبو سلمة صاحب الطعام قال أخبرني جابر بن يزيد وليس بجابر الجعفي عن الربيع بن أنس
بعثني رسول الله ﷺ إلى حليق النصراني ليبعث إليه بأثواب إلى الميسرة فأتيته فقلت بعثني إليك رسول الله ﷺ لتبعث إليه بأثواب إلى الميسرة فقال وما الميسرة ومتى الميسرة والله ما لمحمد سائقة ولا راعية فرجعت فأتيت النبي ﷺ فلما رآني قال كذب عدو الله أنا خير من يبايع لأن يلبس أحدكم ثوبا من رقاع شتى خير له من أن يأخذ بأمانته أو في أمانته ما ليس عنده قال أبو عبد الرحمن وجدت هذا الحديث في كتاب أبي بخط يده
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Its isnad is daif. It includes Abu Salama, the food merchant, whose condition is unknown. They were silent about him and no one deemed him reliable, and likewise Jabir bin Yazid. This is what is said about both of them in al-Taajil, and by Haythami in al-Majma 4/125. It has many corroborating narrations, and a very similar story was narrated by Abdul-Razzaq 7/10, no. 4091. We have already come across the hadith that the Prophet ﷺ died while his armor was pledged for food, no. 3409, and it is sahih.