عن عيسى بن يونس قال: بعث عيسى بن موسى بألف درهم إلى الأعمش رحمه الله وصحيفة ليكتب له فيها حديثًا، فأخذ الأعمش الألف درهم وكتب في الصحيفة بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم " قُلْ هُوَ الله أَحَدٌ " حتى ختمها، وطوى الصحيفة وبعث بها إليه، فلما نظر فيها بعث إليه يا ابن الفاعلة ظننت أني لا أحسن كتاب الله؟ فكتب إليه الأعمش: أفظننت أني أبيع الحديث؟ ولم يكتب له وحبس المال لنفسه. [الحلية (تهذيبه) 2 / 138].
On the authority of Isa ibn Yunus, he said: Isa ibn Musa sent a thousand dirhams to al-A'mash, may God have mercy on him, and a sheet of paper so that he might write a hadith for him on it. Al-A'mash took the thousand dirhams and wrote on the sheet, “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Say, He is God, the One,” until he finished it. He folded the sheet and sent it to him. When he looked at it, he sent back to him, “O son of that vile woman, did you think that I do not know the Book of God?” Al-A'mash wrote back to him, “Did you think that I would sell hadith?” He did not write for him and kept the money for himself. [Al-Hilya (its abridgment) 2/138].