Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Miqdad bin Aswad (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I and my two companions came in such a state that due to the severity of hunger, our ears and eyes had stopped functioning (in another narration it is mentioned that we were afflicted with severe hunger). We began to present ourselves before the noble Companions (so that someone might take us as their guest), but no one was willing to take us as a guest. We went to the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he took us to his house. There were three (and according to one narration, four) goats present there. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Milk these goats and distribute the milk among us. So we would milk them, and each person would drink his share, and we would save the share of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) would come at some time during the night and would greet with such a voice that it would not wake a sleeping person, but a person who was awake would hear it. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) would go to his place of prayer, perform prayer, and then go to the place of milk and drink the milk. Sayyiduna Miqdad (may Allah be pleased with him) says that one night Satan put a whisper in my heart that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) goes to the Ansar, they present him with gifts, and he eats and drinks something at their place, so he does not really need these few sips. What will happen if I drink it? He kept reminding me of this thought and kept making it attractive to me, until I drank the milk. When the milk reached my stomach and I was certain that there was no way for it to come out, Satan left me and fled, saying: Woe to you! What have you done? You have drunk the share of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him); when he comes and does not find the milk, he will curse you and you will be destroyed, your world will be ruined and your Hereafter will be lost. I had a small, thin sheet; if I covered my head with it, my feet would be exposed, and if I covered my feet, my head would come out of the sheet. I remained in this state of anxiety and could not sleep, while my two companions slept peacefully. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived and greeted as usual, then performed prayer at his place of prayer. After that, he went to the milk, lifted the cover, and found nothing in the vessel. He (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his head towards the sky. I thought now he will curse me and I will be destroyed. But he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah! Feed the one who fed me and give drink to the one who gave me drink." Sayyiduna Miqdad (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I pulled the sheet tightly over myself, grabbed a knife, and began to feel the goats to see which one was the fattest so that I could slaughter it for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I saw that all their udders were full of milk. I chose a vessel from the household of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in which they did not expect to find any milk. I milked into it until foam appeared on it, then I took the milk to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: Miqdad! Did you people not drink milk tonight? I said: O Messenger of Allah! Please drink. He (peace and blessings be upon him) drank the milk! (That is, there was not usually so much milk that they would expect to need to pour it into that vessel, so that milk vessel would remain unused.) (Abdullah Rafiq)

And then he gave it to me. I again said: O Messenger of Allah! Please drink more. He (peace and blessings be upon him) drank and then handed the vessel to me, after which I drank what was left. When I was sure that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was fully satisfied and that I had become deserving of his supplication, I laughed so much that I fell to the ground laughing. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Miqdad! This is an inappropriate action of yours. I said: O Messenger of Allah! This is what happened to me today and I did this. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This was the mercy of Allah (and in another narration: This was a blessing sent down from the sky). Why did you not tell me earlier? We would have awakened your two companions and they too would have benefited from it. Miqdad says: I said: By the One Who has sent you with the truth! When you and I have received this blessing, I do not care whether anyone else gets it or not. In another narration, the words are: When you and I have received this blessing, I do not care who has been deprived of it.