أَخْبَرَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عِمْرَانَ ، حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ يَمَانٍ ، قَالَ : سَمِعْتُ سُفْيَانَ مُنْذُ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً، قَالَ :" مَا كَانَ طَلَبُ الْحَدِيثِ أَفْضَلَ مِنْهُ الْيَوْمَ، قَالُوا لِسُفْيَانَ : إِنَّهُمْ يَطْلُبُونَهُ بِغَيْرِ نِيَّةٍ؟، قَالَ : طَلَبُهُمْ إِيَّاهُ نِيَّةٌ "

Abdullah bin Imran told us, Yahya bin Yaman told us, he said: I heard Sufyan forty years ago, he said: “What was the request for hadith? Better than he is today. They said to Sufyan: They were asking for him without intention? He said: They were asking for him with intention.