Hadith #181

Arabic Text

English Translation

'Arim narrated to us, Mu'tamir ibn Sulayman narrated to us, from his father, Abu 'Uthman narrated to us, that 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr (رضي الله عنهما) narrated to him that the People of the Suffah were poor folk, and that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once said: 'Whoever has food for two, let him take a third. Whoever has food for four, let him take a fifth or sixth,' or as he said. Abu Bakr brought three, and the Prophet ﷺ of Allah ﷺ took ten, and Abu Bakr took three. He said: It was myself, my father, and my mother, and I do not know if he said 'and my wife,' and a servant shared between our house and Abu Bakr's house. Abu Bakr had dinner with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then he stayed until the 'Isha prayer was performed, then he returned. He stayed until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had dozed off, then he came after as much of the night had passed as Allah willed. His wife said to him: 'What kept you from your guests?' or she said, 'your guest?' He said: 'Have you not fed them dinner?' She said: 'They refused until you came. They were offered food but they refused.' He said: So I went and hid. He said: 'O ghunthar!' or 'O 'antar!' and he rebuked and cursed, then said: 'Eat, and may it not be pleasant!' And he swore by Allah that he would never eat it. The guest swore that he would not eat until Abu Bakr ate. Abu Bakr said: 'This was from Shaytan.' So he called for the food and ate. By Allah, we would not take a morsel except that more grew from beneath it. He said: Until they were satisfied, and it became more than it had been before that. Abu Bakr looked at it, and it was as it was or more. He said to his wife: 'O sister of Banu Firas, what is this?' She said: 'No, by the delight of my eyes, it is now three times more than it was before.' Abu Bakr ate from it and said: 'That was only from Shaytan,' meaning his oath. Then he ate a morsel and carried it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and it was with him the next morning. There had been a treaty between us and a people, and the term had expired. He assigned twelve men, each with a group of people; Allah knows how many were with each man, except that he sent them and they all ate from it, or as he said.