٥٦ - باب فضل الجوع وخشونة العيش والاقتصار على القليل من المأكول والمشروب والملبوس وغيرها من حظوظ النفس وترك الشهوات

ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The family of Muḥammad ﷺ never ate their fill of barley bread two days in succession until he passed away. Agreed upon. In another narration: The family of Muḥammad ﷺ never ate their fill of wheat food for three nights in succession from the time he came to Madīnah until he passed away.

ʿUrwah reported from ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she used to say: By Allah, O son of my sister, we would look at the crescent moon, then the next crescent, then the next — three crescents in two months — and no fire would be kindled in the houses of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I said: O my aunt, what kept you alive? She said: The two black things — dates and water — except that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had neighbours from the Anṣār who had milch animals, and they used to send the Messenger of Allah ﷺ some of their milk, and he would give it to us to drink. Agreed upon.

Abū Saʿīd al-Maqburī reported from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he passed by some people who had a roasted sheep before them. They invited him, but he refused to eat, and said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ left this world without ever having eaten his fill of barley bread. Recorded by al-Bukhārī. The word maṣliyyah, with a fatḥah on the mīm, means: roasted.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet ﷺ never ate at a table until he died, nor did he ever eat finely milled bread until he died. Recorded by al-Bukhārī. In another of his narrations: Nor did he ever see a whole roasted sheep with his own eyes.

Al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I certainly saw your Prophet ﷺ when he could not find even enough poor dates to fill his belly. Recorded by Muslim. The word al-daqal means: poor-quality dates.

Sahl ibn Saʿd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never saw fine white bread from the time Allah Most High sent him until Allah Most High took him. He was asked: Did you have sieves in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? He said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never saw a sieve from the time Allah Most High sent him until Allah Most High took him. He was asked: How did you eat barley unsifted? He said: We used to grind it and blow on it, so whatever flew off flew off, and whatever remained we moistened. Recorded by al-Bukhārī. His words ‘al-naqiyy’ — with a fatḥah on the nūn, a kasrah on the qāf, and a shaddah on the yāʾ — refer to fine white bread (al-ḥuwwārā), which is al-darmak. His words ‘tharraynāhu’ — with a three-dotted thāʾ, then a doubled rāʾ, then a two-dotted-below yāʾ, then a nūn — mean: we moistened it and kneaded it.

Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out one day — or one night — and there he came upon Abū Bakr and ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both). He said: ‘What has brought you both out of your homes at this hour?’ They said: Hunger, O Messenger of Allah. He said: ‘And I too — by the One in whose Hand is my soul — the very thing that brought you out has brought me out. Come along.’ So they rose with him, and he came to a man of the Anṣār, but he was not at home. When his wife saw him, she said: Welcome and greetings. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to her: ‘Where is so-and-so?’ She said: He has gone to fetch us fresh water. Just then the Anṣārī came, looked at the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his two companions, and said: Praise be to Allah, no one today has more honourable guests than I. He went off and brought them a cluster containing unripe dates, dried dates, and ripe dates, and said: Eat. Then he took the knife, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: ‘Avoid the milch one.’ So he slaughtered for them, and they ate of the sheep and of that cluster, and they drank. When they had eaten their fill and quenched their thirst, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Abū Bakr and ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both): ‘By the One in whose Hand is my soul, you shall certainly be questioned about this bounty on the Day of Resurrection. Hunger brought you out of your homes, then you did not return until this bounty came to you.’ Recorded by Muslim. Her words ‘yastaʿdhibu’ mean: he seeks sweet water, which is the wholesome kind. ‘Al-ʿidhq’ — with a kasrah on the ʿayn and a sukūn on the dotted dhāl — is the date-cluster (kibāsah), which is the stalk. ‘Al-mudyah’ — with a ḍammah or a kasrah on the mīm — is the knife. ‘Al-ḥalūb’ is the one that gives milk. The questioning about this bounty is a questioning of enumerating the blessings, not a questioning of rebuke and punishment — and Allah knows best. This Anṣārī whom they came to was Abū al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyihān, as is made clear in the narration of al-Tirmidhī and others.

Khālid b. ʿUmayr al-ʿAdawī said: ʿUtbah b. Ghazwān delivered a sermon to us — he was governor over Basra. He praised Allah and lauded Him, then said: To proceed: this world has given notice of its departure and turned away in headlong haste; nothing remains of it but a last trickle like the dregs left in a vessel which its owner drains. You are moving on from it to an abode that has no passing away, so move on with the best of what is at hand with you. For it has been mentioned to us that a stone is cast from the brink of Hell and falls within it for seventy years without reaching its bottom. By Allah, it shall surely be filled! Are you then astonished? And it has been mentioned to us that the distance between two leaves of the gates of Paradise is a journey of forty years, and a day will come upon it when it is packed full from the crush of crowds. I have indeed seen myself as the seventh of seven with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; we had no food but the leaves of the trees, until the corners of our mouths became sore. I picked up a cloak and split it between myself and Saʿd b. Mālik: I wore half of it as a waist-wrapper and Saʿd wore half of it. Yet today there is not one of us but he has become a governor over one of the great cities; and I seek refuge in Allah that I should be great in my own eyes yet small with Allah. Narrated by Muslim. His words "ādhanat": it is with a lengthened alif, meaning: it gave notice. His words "bi-ṣurm": it is with ḍammah on the ṣād, meaning: with its being cut off and passing away. His words "wa wallat ḥadhdhāʾ": it is with an unpointed ḥāʾ bearing fatḥah, then a doubled pointed dhāl, then a lengthened alif, meaning: swift. "Al-ṣubābah": with ḍammah on the unpointed ṣād, and it is the small remainder. His words "yataṣābbuhā": it is with shaddah on the bāʾ before the hāʾ, meaning: he gathers it. "Al-kaẓīẓ": the abundant, the filled-up. His words "qariḥat": it is with fatḥah on the qāf and kasrah on the rāʾ, meaning: sores formed in them.

Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) brought out for us a cloak and a coarse waist-wrapper, and said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was taken (passed away) in these two. Agreed upon.

Saʿd b. Abī Waqqāṣ (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was the very first of the Arabs to shoot an arrow in the path of Allah, and we used to go on campaign with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with no food but the leaves of the ḥubla tree and this samur, until one of us would relieve himself as the sheep does, his droppings having no binding admixture. Agreed upon. "Al-ḥubla": with ḍammah on the unpointed ḥāʾ and sukūn on the single-dotted bāʾ — it and the samur are two well-known kinds of desert tree.

Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "O Allah, make the provision of the family of Muhammad a bare sustenance." Agreed upon. The scholars of language and rare vocabulary said: the meaning of "qūtan" is that which wards off the pangs of hunger.

Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: By Allah, beside whom there is no deity, I would press my liver against the ground out of hunger, and I would bind a stone over my belly out of hunger. One day I sat on their path by which they would come out, and the Prophet ﷺ passed by me and smiled when he saw me; he knew what was in my face and in my soul. Then he said: "Abā Hirr!" I said: At your service, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Follow on," and went on, and I followed him. He entered and asked permission, and permission was given for me, so I entered. He found milk in a bowl and said: "Where is this milk from?" They said: So-and-so — or so-and-so, a woman — gifted it to you. He said: "Abā Hirr!" I said: At your service, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Go to the people of the Suffah and call them to me." Now the people of the Suffah were the guests of Islam; they had recourse to no family, nor wealth, nor anyone. Whenever charity came to him he would send it on to them and take nothing of it himself; and whenever a gift came to him he would send to them, take some of it, and share it with them. This grieved me, and I said to myself: What is this milk among the people of the Suffah! I had a better right to take a drink from this milk to gain strength by it; yet when they come and he commands me, I shall be the one to give it to them — and what hope is there that any of this milk will reach me? But there was no escape from obeying Allah and obeying His Messenger ﷺ. So I came to them and called them, and they came forward and sought permission, and he gave them permission, and they took their seats in the house. He said: "O Abā Hirr!" I said: At your service, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Take it and give it to them." So I took the bowl and began giving it to a man, who drank until he was satisfied, then returned the bowl to me; then I gave it to the next man, who drank until he was satisfied, then returned the bowl; then I gave it to the next man, who drank until he was satisfied, then returned the bowl — until I came at last to the Prophet ﷺ, and all the people had drunk their fill. He took the bowl, set it on his hand, looked at me and smiled, and said: "Abā Hirr!" I said: At your service, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "There remain only you and I." I said: You have spoken the truth, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "Sit and drink." So I sat and drank. He said: "Drink." So I drank. He did not cease saying "Drink" until I said: No, by the One who sent you with the truth, I find no way through for it! He said: "Then hand it to me." So I gave him the bowl, and he praised Allah the Exalted, pronounced His name, and drank the remainder. Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

Muhammad b. Sīrīn related from Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I have indeed seen myself collapsing in the space between the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the chamber of ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her), overcome by faintness; a passer-by would come and place his foot on my neck, thinking I was mad, though there was no madness in me — there was nothing wrong with me but hunger. Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away while his armour was pawned with a Jew for thirty ṣāʿs of barley. Agreed upon.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet ﷺ pawned his armour for barley, and I walked to the Prophet ﷺ with barley bread and rancid fat. I indeed heard him say: "There has not been for the family of Muhammad a ṣāʿ of grain at morning nor at evening" — and they were nine households. Narrated by al-Bukhārī. "Al-ihālah": with kasrah on the hamzah — melted fat. "Al-sanikhah": with nūn and a pointed khāʾ — the rancid, changed fat.

Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I have indeed seen seventy of the people of the Suffah, not one of them having an upper garment; they had either a waist-wrapper or a cloak, which they tied at their necks. Some of it reached halfway up the shins and some reached the ankles, and a man would gather it with his hand lest his nakedness be seen. Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The bedding of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was of tanned leather stuffed with palm fibre. Narrated by al-Bukhārī.

Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when a man of the Ansar came and greeted him, then the Ansari turned to leave. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "O brother of the Ansar, how is my brother Saʿd b. ʿUbādah?" He said: He is well. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Who among you will visit him?" He rose and we rose with him — and we were a dozen or so — having no sandals upon us, nor leather socks, nor caps, nor shirts; we walked through those salt-flats until we came to him. His people drew back from around him until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions who were with him drew near. Narrated by Muslim.

ʿImrān b. al-Ḥuṣayn (may Allah be pleased with them both) related from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: "The best of you is my generation, then those who follow them, then those who follow them." ʿImrān said: I do not know whether the Prophet ﷺ said it twice or three times. "Then after them will come a people who bear witness though they are not asked to bear witness, who betray and are not trusted, who make vows and do not fulfil them, and among whom corpulence appears." Agreed upon.

On the authority of Abū Umāmah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: «O son of Adam, that you give away your surplus is better for you, and that you withhold it is worse for you; you are not blamed for [keeping only] a sufficiency, and begin with those you are responsible to maintain.» Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said: «a good and sound ḥadīth (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).»

On the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Miḥṣan al-Anṣārī al-Khaṭmī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: «Whoever among you wakes secure in his person, sound in his body, having his day's provision — it is as though the whole world has been gathered up for him.» Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said: «a good ḥadīth (ḥasan).» [«Sirbihi»: with a kasrah on the unpointed sīn, meaning his self; and it is said: his people.]

On the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (may Allah be pleased with them both): that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: «He has succeeded who has embraced Islam, whose provision is just sufficient, and whom Allah has made content with what He has given him.» Narrated by Muslim.

On the authority of Abū Muḥammad Faḍālah ibn ʿUbayd al-Anṣārī (may Allah be pleased with him): that he heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: «Blessedness is for one who is guided to Islam, whose livelihood is just sufficient, and who is content.» Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said: «a good and sound ḥadīth (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).»

On the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would pass successive nights hungry, while his family found nothing for supper; and most of their bread was barley bread. Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said: «a good and sound ḥadīth (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).»

On the authority of Faḍālah ibn ʿUbayd (may Allah be pleased with him): that when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) led the people in prayer, some men would collapse from their standing posture during the prayer out of destitution — these were the People of the Bench (Ahl al-Ṣuffah) — until the Bedouins would say: These men are mad. So when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had finished praying, he would turn to them and say: «If you knew what awaits you with Allah the Exalted, you would surely love to increase in need and want.» Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said: «a sound ḥadīth (ṣaḥīḥ).» [«Al-khaṣāṣah»: destitution and severe hunger.]

On the authority of Abū Karīmah al-Miqdām ibn Maʿdīkarib (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: «No human fills a vessel worse than his stomach. A few morsels that keep his back upright are enough for the son of Adam; but if there is no avoiding it, then a third for his food, a third for his drink, and a third for his breath.» Narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who said: «a good ḥadīth (ḥasan).» [«Ukulāt» means: morsels.]

On the authority of Abū Umāmah Iyās ibn Thaʿlabah al-Anṣārī al-Ḥārithī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) one day mentioned the world in his presence, so the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: «Do you not hear? Do you not hear? Plainness of dress is part of faith; plainness of dress is part of faith» — meaning frugal austerity. Narrated by Abū Dāwūd. [«Al-badhādhah» — with a single-dotted bāʾ and two pointed dhāls — is shabbiness of appearance and forsaking sumptuous clothing. As for «al-taqaḥḥul» — with qāf and ḥāʾ — the people of language said: al-mutaqaḥḥil is the man whose skin is dry from the harshness of living and forgoing comfort.]

On the authority of Abū ʿAbd Allāh Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) dispatched us — and set Abū ʿUbaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) over us — to intercept a caravan of Quraysh, and he provisioned us with a sack of dates, finding nothing else for us. Abū ʿUbaydah used to give us a single date each. It was asked: How did you manage with [just] that? He said: We would suck it as an infant sucks, then drink water after it, and it would suffice us for the day until night. We would also beat down leaves with our staffs, then moisten them with water and eat them. He said: We set out along the seashore, and there rose up for us on the seashore something like a great dune. We came to it, and behold, it was a beast called al-ʿanbar. Abū ʿUbaydah said: It is carrion. Then he said: No — rather we are the envoys of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), in the path of Allah, and you have been compelled, so eat. We stayed by it a month, three hundred men, until we grew fat. I even saw us scooping oil from the socket of its eye with the jars, and cutting from it pieces like a bull, or the size of a bull. Abū ʿUbaydah took thirteen men of us and seated them in the socket of its eye; he took one of its ribs and set it upright, then saddled the largest camel we had and it passed beneath it. And we took provisions from its meat as cured strips. When we reached Madīnah, we came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and mentioned that to him, and he said: «It is provision that Allah brought forth for you. Do you have any of its meat with you to feed us?» So we sent some of it to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he ate it. Narrated by Muslim. [«Al-jirāb»: a well-known leather container; it is with a kasrah or a fatḥah on the jīm, the kasrah being more eloquent. His saying «namaṣṣuhā» is with a fatḥah on the mīm. «Al-khabaṭ»: a well-known tree-leaf that camels eat. «Al-kathīb»: a mound of sand. «Al-waqb»: with a fatḥah on the wāw, a sukūn on the qāf, and after it a single-dotted bāʾ — it is the hollow of the eye (eye-socket). «Al-qilāl»: the large jars. «Al-fidar», with a kasrah on the fāʾ and a fatḥah on the dāl: the pieces. «Raḥala l-baʿīr», with a light ḥāʾ: that is, he placed the saddle on it. «Al-washāʾiq», with a pointed shīn and a qāf: the meat that is cut off to be made into cured strips. And Allah knows best.]

On the authority of Asmāʾ bint Yazīd (may Allah be pleased with her), who said: The sleeve of the Messenger of Allah's (ﷺ) shirt reached to the wrist. Narrated by Abū Dāwūd and al-Tirmidhī, who said: «a good ḥadīth (ḥasan).» [«Al-ruṣgh» with a ṣād — and also al-rusgh with a sīn — is the joint between the hand and the forearm.]

On the authority of Jābir (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: On the Day of the Trench we were digging, and a hard rock-bed obstructed us. So they went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: This is a rock-bed that has come up in the trench. He said: «I shall go down.» Then he stood up — his stomach bound with a stone — for we had stayed three days tasting nothing. The Prophet (ﷺ) took the pick and struck, and [the rock] turned into a loose, crumbling sand-heap. I said: O Messenger of Allah, give me leave [to go] to the house. [Then] I said to my wife: I have seen something of the Prophet (ﷺ) that I cannot bear — do you have anything? She said: I have barley and a young goat. So I slaughtered the goat and ground the barley until we put the meat in the pot; then I came to the Prophet (ﷺ) while the dough had become soft and the pot, set among the hearthstones, was nearly done. I said: I have a little food, so get up, O Messenger of Allah, you and a man or two men. He said: «How much is it?» I told him, and he said: «It is plenty and good. Tell her not to take the pot off [the fire], nor the bread from the oven, until I come.» Then he said: «Get up.» So the Emigrants and the Helpers rose. I went in to her and said: Woe to you! The Prophet (ﷺ) has come, and the Emigrants and the Helpers and those with them! She said: Did he ask you? I said: Yes. He said: «Enter, and do not crowd one another.» He began to break the bread and put the meat on it, covering the pot and the oven whenever he took from it, then bringing it near to his Companions, then taking out [more]. He kept breaking and ladling until they were all satisfied, and some still remained. He said: «Eat this and give [some] as a gift, for the people have been afflicted with hunger.» Agreed upon. In another narration Jābir said: When the trench was dug I saw hunger in the Prophet (ﷺ), so I turned aside to my wife and said: Do you have anything? For I have seen severe hunger in the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). She brought out for me a sack containing a ṣāʿ of barley, and we had a domesticated lamb, so I slaughtered it and she ground the barley — she finished as I finished — and I cut it up into her pot. Then I turned toward the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). She said: Do not disgrace me before the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and those with him. So I came to him and spoke to him privately, saying: O Messenger of Allah, we have slaughtered a lamb of ours and ground a ṣāʿ of barley, so come, you and a few men with you. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) called out and said: «O people of the Trench, Jābir has prepared a feast, so come along, all of you!» The Prophet (ﷺ) said: «Do not take down your pot, nor bake your dough, until I come.» So I came, and the Prophet (ﷺ) came leading the people, until I reached my wife. She said: It is your doing and yours! I said: I did what you told me. She brought out the dough, and he spat in it and blessed it; then he turned to our pot and spat and blessed [it]. Then he said: «Call a woman to bake with you, and ladle from your pot, and do not take it down.» They were a thousand, and I swear by Allah they all ate until they left it and turned away, while our pot was still bubbling as it was, and our dough was being baked as it was. [His saying «ʿaraḍat kudyah» — with a ḍammah on the kāf, a sukūn on the dāl, and a two-dotted yāʾ beneath — it is a thick, hard piece of ground in which the pick does not work. «Al-kathīb» originally is a mound of sand; what is meant here is that it became fine soil, which is the meaning of «ahyal». «Al-athāfī»: the stones on which the cooking pot is set. «Taḍāghaṭū»: they crowded together. «Al-majāʿah»: hunger, with a fatḥah on the mīm. «Al-khamaṣ», with a fatḥah on the pointed khāʾ and the mīm: hunger. «Inkafaʾtu»: I turned back and returned. «Al-buhaymah», with a ḍammah on the bāʾ, is the diminutive of bahmah, and it is the young goat (ʿanāq), with a fatḥah on the ʿayn. «Al-dājin»: the [animal] that has become accustomed to the house. «Al-suʾr»: the food to which people are invited; it is [a word] in Persian. «Ḥayyahalā» means: come. Her saying «bika wa-bika» means she quarrelled with him and rebuked him, because she believed that what she had would not suffice them, so she felt ashamed; but what Allah, Mighty and Majestic, honoured His Prophet (ﷺ) with — of this manifest miracle and dazzling sign — was hidden from her. «Basaqa» means: he spat; it is also said «bazaqa» — three [valid] dialects. «ʿAmada», with a fatḥah on the mīm, means: he intended/turned to. «Iqdaḥī» means: ladle out; al-miqdaḥah is the ladle. «Taghiṭṭu» means: it had a sound from its boiling. And Allah knows best.]

On the authority of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: Abū Ṭalḥah said to Umm Sulaym: I have heard the voice of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) [grown] weak; I recognise hunger in it. Do you have anything? She said: Yes. So she brought out some barley loaves, then took a head-cloth of hers and wrapped the bread in part of it, then slipped it under my garment and wound the rest of it around me; then she sent me to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). I took it and went, and found the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sitting in the mosque with people around him. I stood before them, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to me: «Has Abū Ṭalḥah sent you?» I said: Yes. He said: «For food?» I said: Yes. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: «Get up.» So they set out, and I went ahead of them until I came to Abū Ṭalḥah and told him. Abū Ṭalḥah said: O Umm Sulaym, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has come with the people, and we have nothing to feed them! She said: Allah and His Messenger know best. So Abū Ṭalḥah went out until he met the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) came along with him until they both entered. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: «Bring what you have, O Umm Sulaym.» So she brought that bread, and the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ordered it to be crumbled, and Umm Sulaym squeezed a skin of butter over it as a seasoning. Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said over it what Allah willed him to say, then said: «Admit ten.» So he admitted them, and they ate until they were satisfied, then went out. Then he said: «Admit ten.» So he admitted them, until all the people had eaten and were satisfied; and the people were seventy men, or eighty. Agreed upon. In one narration: He kept admitting ten and letting out ten until none of them remained but had entered and eaten until satisfied; then she made it ready, and behold it was like it had been when they ate from it. In one narration: They ate ten by ten, until he did that with eighty men; then the Prophet (ﷺ) ate after that, and the household, and they left a surplus. In one narration: Then they had more than enough, so that what [remained] reached their neighbours. In one narration from Anas, who said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) one day and found him sitting with his Companions, having bound his stomach with a band. I said to some of his Companions: Why has the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) bound his stomach? They said: Out of hunger. So I went to Abū Ṭalḥah — who was the husband of Umm Sulaym bint Milḥān — and said: O father, I have seen the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) bind his stomach with a band; I asked some of his Companions and they said: Out of hunger. So Abū Ṭalḥah went in to my mother and said: Is there anything? She said: Yes, I have some scraps of bread and a few dates; if the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) comes to us alone we shall satisfy him, but if another comes with him it will be too little for them ... — and he related the rest of the ḥadīth.