English Translation

Muhammad ibn Ja'far told us, Shu'ba told us, from Salama ibn Kuhayl, who said: I heard Suwayd ibn Ghafala. And Abdullah told us, Ubaydullah ibn Umar al-Qawariri told me, Yahya ibn Sa'id told us, from Shu'ba, Salama ibn Kuhayl told me, who said: I heard Suwayd ibn Ghafala say: I went on a military expedition with Zayd ibn Suhan and Salman ibn Rabi'a, and I found a whip and took it. They said to me: "Throw it away." I said: "No, rather I will announce it; if I find someone who recognizes it, I will give it to him, otherwise I will make use of it." They objected to me and I objected to them. When we returned from our expedition, I performed Hajj, and I came to Madina and met Ubayy ibn Ka'b, and I mentioned to him their saying and my saying to them. He said: "I found a purse containing a hundred dinars in the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. I went to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and mentioned that to him, and he said: 'Announce it for a year.' So I announced it for a year and found no one who recognized it. I came to him and said: I have not found anyone who recognizes it. He said: 'Announce it for a year' - three times, and I do not know whether he said that concerning one year or three years. Then he said to me the fourth time: 'Know its number and its tie; if you find someone who recognizes it, give it to him, otherwise make use of it.'" This is the wording of the hadith of Yahya ibn Sa'id. Muhammad ibn Ja'far added in his narration: He said: I met him after that in Makka, and he said: "I do not know whether it was three years or one year."