Qays reported,

Abu Hurairah came to stay with us in Kufa. There was a kinship between him and our patron. Sufyan said, he was the freed slave of the Ahmas tribe, so the Ahmas gathered together.Qays said, we came to him to greet him. Sufyan once said, the clan came to him. Ubayy said to him, "Abu Hurairah, these are your relatives who have come to greet you. Tell them something from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."He replied, "Welcome to them. I kept company with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for three years, and during that time I was more eager to memorize hadith than at any other point in my life. I heard him say, 'By Allah, for one of you to take a rope and gather firewood on his back, then eat from its earnings and give in charity, is better for him than going to a man whom Allah has enriched from His bounty and asking him, whether he gives him or refuses him.'"

حدثنا سفيان بن عيينة قال إسماعيل بن أبي خالد

عن قيس قال

نزل علينا أبو هريرة بالكوفة قال فكان بينه وبين مولانا قرابة قال سفيان وهو مولى الأحمس فاجتمعت أحمس قال قيس فأتيناه نسلم عليه وقال سفيان مرة فأتاه الحي فقال له أبي يا أبا هريرة هؤلاء أنسباؤك أتوك يسلمون عليك وتحدثهم عن رسول الله ﷺ قال مرحبا بهم وأهلا صحبت رسول الله ﷺ ثلاث سنين لم أكن أحرص على أن أعي الحديث مني فيهن حتى سمعته يقول والله لأن يأخذ أحدكم حبلا فيحتطب على ظهره فيأكل ويتصدق خير له من أن يأتي رجلا أغناه الله عز وجل من فضله فيسأله أعطاه أو منعه