Sunan an-Nasa'i
Sunan an-Nasa'i 2584
أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو دَاوُدَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، عَنْ صَالِحٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، أَنَّ أَبَا عُبَيْدٍ، مَوْلَى عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَزْهَرَ أَخْبَرَهُ أَنَّهُ، سَمِعَ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ، يَقُولُ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " لأَنْ يَحْتَزِمَ أَحَدُكُمْ حُزْمَةَ حَطَبٍ عَلَى ظَهْرِهِ فَيَبِيعَهَا خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ يَسْأَلَ رَجُلاً فَيُعْطِيَهُ أَوْ يَمْنَعَهُ " .
Abu Dawud reported: Yaqoub ibn Ibrahim narrated to us: My father narrated to us, from Salih, from Ibn Shihab, that Abu Ubayd, the freedman of Abd al-Rahman ibn Azhar, informed him that he heard Abu Hurayrah say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: For one of you to tie a bundle of firewood on his back and sell it is better than asking a man who may give to him or refuse him.
Translation notes
The comparison is between earning through carrying and selling firewood and asking another person, whose response may be either to give or withhold.