Sa'id bin Abi al-Hasan narrates that none of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) narrated more hadith than Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Marwan appointed him governor over Madinah and wanted (to put) his hadith (into writing), so Marwan said: "Narrate to us just as you narrated before." When he refused (to dictate them), Marwan caught him unawares and (secretly) seated a scribe for him. So Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) kept narrating and the scribe kept writing, until all of his hadith were complete. Then Marwan said: "Do you know that we have written down all of your hadith?" He asked: "Have you really done that? If you listen to me, erase it." The narrator said: So Marwan erased it.

Abu al-Zu'ayzi'ah, the scribe of Marwan bin al-Hakam, narrates that Marwan summoned Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) and seated me behind the throne. Marwan began asking him questions while I kept writing, until, when a year had passed, Marwan summoned him again and seated him behind a curtain, then asked him the same questions again, and he (in his answers) neither added anything nor left anything out, nor did he put any words before or after (their place). This hadith has an authentic (sahih) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) that a man said to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both): "Abu Hurayrah narrates a great many hadith from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "I seek refuge for you with Allah from falling into any doubt about what he brings (from the Prophet). The truth is that he was bold (in narrating) and we were hesitant."

Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was very bold before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); he would ask him (peace and blessings be upon him) about things that we would not ask him about.

Al-Walid bin Abd al-Rahman al-Jurashi narrates from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he passed by Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) while he was narrating from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Whoever follows a funeral will have one qirat, and if he also attends its burial he will have two qirats, and one qirat is greater than (the mountain of) Uhud." Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "O Abu Hurayrah! Be careful what you narrate from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." So Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) got up and, taking Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) with him, went to Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) and said to her: "O Mother of the Believers! I ask you by Allah: did you hear the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'Whoever follows a funeral and prays the funeral prayer over it will have one qirat, and if he attends its burial he will have two qirats'?" She replied: "By Allah, yes (I heard it)." At this Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Neither planting (orchards) nor trading in the markets kept us busy away from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) (and from acquiring hadith); rather, I was always seeking from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) a word that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would teach me or a morsel that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would feed me." Then Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "O Abu Hurayrah! You were the one of us who kept closest company with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and who knew his hadith best." This hadith has an authentic (sahih) chain of narration, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Ink on the clothes of a student of knowledge is like a mark of perfume on the chest of a virgin girl."

Al-Fadl bin al-Hasan bin Amr bin Umayyah al-Damri narrates from his father, who said: I narrated a hadith on the authority of Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) and he denied it. I said: "I heard it from you yourself." He said: "If you heard it from me, then it will be written down with me." Then he took me by the hand to his house and showed me some of his books containing the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he found that hadith. He said: "I told you that if I had narrated this hadith to you, then it would be written down with me."

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Sirin that Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "When you hear in a hadith 'He used to say', then the one meant is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)."

It is narrated from Muhammad bin Umarah bin Amr bin Hazm that he sat in a gathering in which Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was present, and more than ten elderly men from among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) were also seated there. Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) began narrating to them the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); some of those Companions would not recognise a hadith and some would recognise it, until he had done this several times. On that day I came to know that Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) was the person with the best memory of the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

Abu Anas Malik bin Abi Amir narrates: I was with Sayyiduna Talhah bin Ubaydullah (may Allah be pleased with him) when a man came in and said: "O Abu Muhammad! By Allah, we do not know whether this Yemeni (Abu Hurayrah) knows more about the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) than you people, or what the matter is. He says things on behalf of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say" - meaning Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah! We have no doubt that he heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) what we did not hear, and came to know what we did not know. For we were wealthy people with houses and families; we would come to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at the two ends of the day and then go back. Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), however, was poor, with neither wealth, nor family, nor children; his hand was always in the hand of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he went wherever he (peace and blessings be upon him) went. So we have no doubt that he came to know what we could not know and heard what we could not hear, and none of us ever accused him of attributing to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) something he (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.