Sunan Abi Dawud 1652
سنن أبي داود#1652Sahihحَدَّثَنَا نَصْرُ بْنُ عَلِيٍّ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبِي، عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ، عَنْ قَتَادَةَ، عَنْ أَنَسٍ، أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَجَدَ تَمْرَةً فَقَالَ " لَوْلاَ أَنِّي أَخَافُ أَنْ تَكُونَ صَدَقَةً لأَكَلْتُهَا " . قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ رَوَاهُ هِشَامٌ عَنْ قَتَادَةَ هَكَذَا .
Anas said:Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) found a date and said: Were it not that I fear it may be part of the sadaqah, I would eat it
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
Al-AlbaniSahih
Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul HamidSahih
Shuaib Al ArnautSahih
Zubair Ali ZaiSahih Bukhari (2055) Sahih Muslim (1071)
In-book reference: 9:97