Ibn Hawala reported,

I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was sitting in the shade of a lote tree, and with him was a scribe to whom he was dictating.He said, "Shall I enroll you, Ibn Hawala?"I replied, "I do not know what Allah and His Messenger have chosen for me."So he turned away from me. (Ismail once said in the first instance, "Shall we enroll you, Ibn Hawala?" I said, "For what, Messenger of Allah? I do not know.") He turned away from me and bent over his scribe, dictating to him.Then he said, "Shall we enroll you, Ibn Hawala?"I said, "I do not know what Allah and His Messenger have chosen for me."He turned away from me and bent over his scribe, dictating to him. Then I looked, and there in the document was the name of Umar, so I said to myself, "Umar would only be enrolled in something good."Then he said, "Shall we enroll you, Ibn Hawala?"I said, "Yes."He said, "Ibn Hawala, what will you do in a tribulation that breaks out in the far reaches of the earth as though they were the horns of cattle?"I said, "I do not know what Allah and His Messenger have chosen for me."He said, "And what will you do in another that follows it, in comparison to which the first will be like the puff of a rabbit?"I said, "I do not know what Allah and His Messenger have chosen for me."He said, "Follow this man." At that moment a man was passing by with his back to us.So I set off, ran up, took him by the shoulders, and turned his face toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, "This one?"He said, "Yes."And there he was, Uthman bin Affan, may Allah be pleased with him.

حدثنا إسماعيل بن إبراهيم قال حدثنا الجريري عن عبد الله بن شقيق

عن ابن حوالة قال

أتيت رسول الله ﷺ وهو جالس في ظل دومة وعنده كاتب له يملي عليه فقال ألا أكتبك يا ابن حوالة قلت لا أدري ما خار الله لي ورسوله فأعرض عني وقال إسماعيل مرة في الأولى نكتبك يا ابن حوالة قلت لا أدري فيم يا رسول الله فأعرض عني فأكب على كاتبه يملي عليه ثم قال أنكتبك يا ابن حوالة قلت لا أدري ما خار الله لي ورسوله فأعرض عني فأكب على كاتبه يملي عليه قال فنظرت فإذا في الكتاب عمر فقلت إن عمر لا يكتب إلا في خير ثم قال أنكتبك يا ابن حوالة قلت نعم فقال يا ابن حوالة كيف تفعل في فتنة تخرج في أطراف الأرض كأنها صياصي بقر قلت لا أدري ما خار الله لي ورسوله قال وكيف تفعل في أخرى تخرج بعدها كأن الأولى فيها انتفاجة أرنب قلت لا أدري ما خار الله لي ورسوله قال اتبعوا هذا قال ورجل مقف حينئذ قال فانطلقت فسعيت وأخذت بمنكبيه فأقبلت بوجهه إلى رسول الله ﷺ فقلت هذا قال نعم قال وإذا هو عثمان بن عفان رضي الله تعالى عنه