حَدَّثَنِي الْفَضْلُ بْنُ سَهْلٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَزِيدُ بْنُ هَارُونَ، قَالَ أَخْبَرَنِي خَلِيفَةُ بْنُ مُوسَى، قَالَ دَخَلْتُ عَلَى غَالِبِ بْنِ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ فَجَعَلَ يُمْلِي عَلَىَّ حَدَّثَنِي مَكْحُولٌ، حَدَّثَنِي مَكْحُولٌ، فَأَخَذَهُ الْبَوْلُ فَقَامَ فَنَظَرْتُ فِي الْكُرَّاسَةِ فَإِذَا فِيهَا حَدَّثَنِي أَبَانٌ عَنْ أَنَسٍ وَأَبَانٌ عَنْ فُلاَنٍ فَتَرَكْتُهُ وَقُمْتُ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَسَمِعْتُ الْحَسَنَ بْنَ عَلِيٍّ الْحُلْوَانِيَّ، يَقُولُ رَأَيْتُ فِي كِتَابِ عَفَّانَ حَدِيثَ هِشَامٍ أَبِي الْمِقْدَامِ حَدِيثُ عُمَرَ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْعَزِيزِ قَالَ هِشَامٌ حَدَّثَنِي رَجُلٌ يُقَالُ لَهُ يَحْيَى بْنُ فُلاَنٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ كَعْبٍ قَالَ قُلْتُ لِعَفَّانَ إِنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ هِشَامٌ سَمِعَهُ مِنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ كَعْبٍ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ إِنَّمَا ابْتُلِيَ مِنْ قِبَلِ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ كَانَ يَقُولُ حَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ ثُمَّ ادَّعَى بَعْدُ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَهُ مِنْ مُحَمَّدٍ ‏.‏

‘I entered upon Ghālib bin Ubayd Allah so he began dictating to me ‘Mak’hūl narrated to me this’ and ‘Mak’hūl narrated to me that’. So he prepared to answer the call of nature and stood up, then I looked in his notebook and in it was ‘Abān narrated to me, on authority of Anas’ and ‘Abān on authority of so-and-so’. So I abandoned [listening to his Ḥadīth] and stood up [to leave]’. I heard al-Hasan bin Alī al-Hulwānī saying: ‘I saw in one of the books of Affān a Ḥadīth of Hishām Abīl-Miqdām meaning a Ḥadīth of Umar bin Abd il-Azīz. [In it was written] ‘Hishām said: ‘A man said to be Yahyā bin so-and-so narrated to me, on authority of Muhammad bin Ka’b…’ [Al-Hulwānī] said, I said to Affān: ‘They would say Hishām heard it [directly] from Muhammad bin Ka’b’. So [Affān] said: ‘Indeed Hishām was stricken [with accusations of lying] with regards to this Ḥadīth for he would say ‘Yahyā narrated to me on authority of Muhammad’, then he claimed afterwards that he heard it from Muhammad [directly]’.’