I met Ubayy bin Kaab, and he said, "I found a purse containing one hundred dinars, so I brought it to the Prophet ﷺ.He said, 'Announce it for a year.'So I announced it for a year, but found no one who recognized it. Then I came to him again, and he said, 'Announce it for a year.'I announced it, but found no one. Then I came to him a third time, and he said, 'Remember its container, its count, and its tie. If its owner comes, give it to him; otherwise, make use of it.'So I made use of it."I met him afterwards in Makkah, and he said, "I do not know whether it was three years or only one year."
لقيت أبي بن كعب، فقال: أخذت صرة مائة دينار، فأتيت النبي ﷺ، فقال: عرفها حولا. فعرفتها حولا، فلم أجد من يعرفها، ثم أتيته، فقال: عرفها حولا. فعرفتها، فلم أجد، ثم أتيته ثلاثا، فقال: احفظ وعاءها وعددها ووكاءها؛ فإن جاء صاحبها وإلا فاستمتع بها. فاستمتعت، فلقيته بعد بمكة، فقال: لا أدري ثلاثة أحوال، أو حولا واحدا.
Bukhari narrated it in the chapter on lost property (2426), and Muslim in the chapter on lost property (1723), both from Muhammad bin Bashshar, who said, Ghundar narrated to us, Shuba narrated to us, from Salama bin Kuhayl, who said, I heard Suwayd bin Ghafla say,I went out with Zayd bin Sawhan and Salman bin Rabia as fighters, and I found a whip and picked it up. They both said to me, "Leave it." I said, "No, but I will make it known, and if its owner comes forward, well and good, otherwise I will make use of it." I refused to give in to them.When we returned from our expedition, it happened that I performed the hajj, so I came to Madinah and met Ubayy bin Kaab. I told him about the matter of the whip and what the two of them had said, and he said, "I once found a purse," and he went on to relate the hadith. The wording here is Muslim's.Bukhari also related the story, but he narrated it from Sulayman bin Harb, from Shuba (2437).In Sahih Muslim, Shuba said, I heard him ten years later saying, "Make it known for one year." So it seems that Salama bin Kuhayl was uncertain at first, then became certain that he was commanded to make it known for one year, which is the accepted view, as in the hadith of Zayd bin Khalid Juhani that will come in the chapter on stray camels and sheep.