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- Muhammad narrated to me; Ḥibbān ibn Hilāl informed us, saying: Abū Miḥṣan related, from Sufyān ibn Ḥusayn, from Khālid ibn Abī al-Ṣalt, who said: I asked Muhammad ibn Sīrīn, “What prevented you from accepting anything from Ibn Hubayrah?” He answered, “My dear ‘Abd Allāh— or rather, sir—he only offered it because of some virtue he assumed I possessed. If I truly am as he imagined, then it is unfitting for me to take it; and if I am not as he imagined, then all the more it is unlawful for me to accept it.”
٢٠٤ - حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدٌ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا حَبَّانُ بْنُ هِلَالٍ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مِحْصَنَ، عَنْ سُفْيَانِ بْنِ حُسَيْنٍ، عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ أَبِي الصَّلْتِ قَالَ: قُلْتُ لِمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ: مَا مَنَعَكَ أَنْ تَقْبَلَ مِنِ ابْنِ هُبَيْرَةَ؟ قَالَ: فَقَالَ لِي: يَا عَبْدَ اللَّهِ - أَوْ يَا هَذَا - إِنَّمَا «أَعْطَانِي عَلَى خَيْرٍ كَانَ يَظُنُهُ فِيَّ فَلَئِنْ كُنْتُ كَمَا ظَنَّ فَمَا يَنْبَغِي أَنْ أَقْبَلَ، وَإِنْ لَمْ أَكُنْ كَمَا ظَنَّ فَبِالْحَرِيِّ أَنَّهُ لَا يَجُوزُ لِي أَنْ أَقْبَلَ»