Bukhari

Hadith Commentary:
This date was found by you (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) on your bedding, as is explicitly mentioned in the subsequent narration.
Perhaps you (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) had distributed dates of charity and one of them became attached to your clothing and fell onto your bedding. This suspicion occurred to you, and you (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) refrained from eating it solely on the basis of this doubt. It is thus understood that abstaining from consuming doubtful things is the height of piety (taqwa) and scrupulousness (wara‘).
With this objective in mind, the esteemed Imam (rahimahullah) has brought this hadith under the chapter he has established.

Hadith Commentary:
(1)
A doubtful matter is that in which the evidences for its permissibility and prohibition, or for its purity and impurity, are equal. There is no evidence to give preference to one side over the other. One should avoid such matters. This is also what piety (taqwa) and God-consciousness demand.

(2)
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) once found a date lying on his bed at home. Perhaps he had just returned after distributing dates given in charity (sadaqah), and one of those dates had gotten caught in his clothes and then fallen onto his bed. Due to this doubt, he refrained from eating it. In this regard, there is a detailed narration in the following words: The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: “When I return home, I see a date lying on my bed. I pick it up to eat it, but then I fear that it might be from the charity (sadaqah), so I throw it away.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, al-Luqatah, Hadith: 2432)

Hafiz Ibn Hajar (rahimahullah), quoting from Muhallab, has written: The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) avoided eating that date out of scrupulousness (wara‘) and piety. It was not obligatory upon him to do so, because the basic principle regarding what is found in the house is permissibility and lawfulness, unless there is evidence establishing its prohibition. (Fath al-Bari: 4/378)

It is mentioned in Musnad Ahmad that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) spent one night in great restlessness and distress. Upon inquiry, it was found that he had eaten a fallen date, and afterwards remembered that there were also dates of charity (sadaqah) in the house which were to be distributed among the poor. This caused him distress because he was not certain about that date—whether it was from the charity dates or from those kept for household use. (Musnad Ahmad: 2/193)

These should be understood as multiple incidents. Most likely, after this incident, he (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) stopped eating such dates. (Fath al-Bari: 4/378)