He was asked, "Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ever see refined white flour with his own eyes before his death?" meaning fine sifted flour.He replied, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never laid eyes on refined white flour until he met Allah ."He was then asked, "Did you have sieves during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?"He answered, "We had no sieves."He was asked, "Then how did you handle the barley?"He said, "We would blow on it, and whatever flew off flew off."
حدثنا عبد الصمد قال حدثنا عبد الرحمن يعني ابن عبد الله بن دينار حدثنا أبو حازم
أنه قيل له هل رأى رسول الله ﷺ النقي قبل موته بعينه يعني الحوارى قال ما رأى رسول الله ﷺ النقي بعينه حتى لقي الله عز وجل فقيل له هل كان لكم مناخل على عهد رسول الله ﷺ قال ما كانت لنا مناخل قيل له فكيف كنتم تصنعون بالشعير قال ننفخه فيطير منه ما طار
Its chain is sahih. It appears with similar wording in Bukhari 9/548 no. 5410, Fath, in the Book of Foods, chapter on blowing into barley, and in Tirmidhi 4/581 no. 2364, in the Book of Zuhd, chapter on what has been reported about the livelihood of the Prophet ﷺ, where he said, hasan sahih. And in Ibn Majah 2/1107 no. 3335.