A woman extended her hand toward the Prophet ﷺ holding a letter, but he withdrew his hand.She said, "Messenger of Allah, I extended my hand to you with a letter and you did not take it."He replied, "I could not tell whether it was a woman's hand or a man's."She said, "It is a woman's hand."He said, "If you were truly a woman, you would have dyed your nails with henna."
أخبرنا عمرو بن منصور قال حدثنا المعلى بن أسد قال حدثنا مطيع بن ميمون حدثتنا صفية بنت عصمة
أن امرأة مدت يدها إلى النبي ﷺ بكتاب فقبض يده فقالت يا رسول الله مددت يدي إليك بكتاب فلم تأخذه فقال إني لم أدر أيد امرأة هي أو رجل قالت بل يد امرأة قال لو كنت امرأة لغيرت أظفارك بالحناء
[Its chain is daif] Abu Dawud narrated it in Kitab al-Tarajjul, Chapter on Dye for Women, hadith no. 4166, from the hadith of Mati, and he is lenient in narration (Taqrib). The hadith is also in Al-Kubra, hadith no. 9364, and Ahmad said in Al-Ilal, "This is a munkar hadith." Safiyyah is unknown (Taqrib).