مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 1400

It was narrated from Simak that he heard Moosa bin Talha narrate that his father said: I was with the Prophet (PBUH) and he passed by some palm trees of Madinah, and he saw some people at the top of the palm trees who were pollinating them. He said: "What are these people doing?" [Talha] said: They are taking (pollen) from the male and putting it in the female, to fertilise it. He said: "I do not think this can help in any way." News of that reached them, so they stopped doing that and came down from the trees, which did not bear any fruit that year as a result. News of that reached the Prophet (PBUH) and he said: "It was only a thought that crossed my mind. If it helps in any way, then do it. I am only human, just like you, and thoughts may be right or wrong. But if I tell you that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, said something, I will never tell a lie about Allah, may He be glorified and exalted."