Malik bin Abu Amir reported,

A man came to Talha bin Ubaydullah and said, "Abu Muhammad, what do you say about this Yemeni," meaning Abu Hurayra, "is he more knowledgeable about the hadith of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than you are? We hear from him what we do not hear from you. Or is he saying things about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he did not say?"Talha replied, "As for his having heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what we did not hear, I have no doubt that he heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what we did not hear. He was a poor man with nothing to his name, a guest of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, his hand with the hand of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. We, on the other hand, were people of households and wealth, and we used to come to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ only at the two ends of the day. So I have no doubt that he heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what we did not hear. And you will not find anyone with any good in him saying about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ what he did not say."

حدثنا عبد الله بن عبد الرحمن أخبرنا أحمد بن أبي شعيب الحراني أخبرنا محمد بن سلمة الحراني عن محمد بن إسحق عن محمد بن إبراهيم

عن مالك بن أبي عامر قال

جاء رجل إلى طلحة بن عبيد الله فقال يا أبا محمد أرأيت هذا اليماني يعني أبا هريرة أهو أعلم بحديث رسول الله ﷺ منكم نسمع منه ما لا نسمع منكم أو يقول على رسول الله ﷺ ما لم يقل قال أما أن يكون سمع من رسول الله ﷺ ما لم نسمع فلا أشك إلا أنه سمع من رسول الله ﷺ ما لم نسمع وذاك أنه كان مسكينا لا شيء له ضيفا لرسول الله ﷺ يده مع يد رسول الله ﷺ وكنا نحن أهل بيوتات وغنى وكنا نأتي رسول الله ﷺ طرفي النهار فلا أشك إلا أنه سمع من رسول الله ﷺ ما لم نسمع ولا نجد أحدا فيه خير يقول على رسول الله ﷺ ما لم يقل