Lu'lu' wal-Marjan

Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that a person (referring to Abu Huraira himself) came to the service of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) hungry. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent him to the houses of his noble wives (so that they might feed him). The wives sent word back that they had nothing except water. Upon this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Who will host him? An Ansari companion said: I will. So he took him to his home and said to his wife: Honor the guest of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The wife said: There is nothing in the house except the food for the children. He said: Whatever there is, bring it out, and light the lamp, and if the children ask for food, put them to sleep. The wife brought out the food and lit the lamp, and put the children (to bed) hungry. Then she pretended as if she was fixing the lamp, but she extinguished it. After that, both husband and wife pretended to the guest as if they were eating with him, but both of them (along with their children) spent the night hungry. In the morning, when that companion came to the service of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Allah laughed (was pleased) at your good deed last night (and said that He) liked it. Upon this, Allah revealed this verse: "And they (the Ansar) give preference to others over themselves, even though they themselves are in need. And whoever is saved from the greed of his soul, then such are the successful."

Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that we were one hundred and thirty men with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on a journey. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Does anyone have any food?" One companion had about one sa’ of flour. That flour was kneaded. Then a tall, disheveled-haired polytheist came, driving some goats. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked: "Are these for sale or a gift?" Or perhaps he said "hiba" instead of "gift." He replied, "No, they are for sale." The Prophet (peace be upon him) bought a goat from him. Then it was slaughtered, and the Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered its liver to be roasted. By Allah, out of the one hundred and thirty companions, each one was given a piece of that liver. Those who were present were given their share immediately by the Prophet (peace be upon him), and the share of those who were not present at that time was set aside for them. Then the meat of the goat was placed in two large trays, and everyone ate to their fill. Whatever was left in the trays was loaded onto a camel and we brought it back with us. (The narrator says) or as Hazrat said.

Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Ashab-e-Suffah were poor and destitute people, and the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that whoever has food for two people in his house should take a third (from among the Ashab-e-Suffah) with him. And whoever has food for four people should take a fifth or sixth person from among the people of the shade with him. So Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) brought three people with him, and the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took ten people with him. Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that at that time, the members of the household were my father, my mother, and myself. Also, my wife and a servant who was for both my house and (my father) Abu Bakr’s (may Allah be pleased with him) house, were present. Anyway, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) stayed at the place of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). (And probably ate there as well. The situation was such that) he remained there (in the mosque) until the Isha prayer. Then he came to the blessed chamber of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from the mosque and stayed there until the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had also eaten. And after a part of the night had passed, when Allah Almighty willed, he came home, and his wife (Umm Ruman) said: What happened that you did not even inquire about the guests, or she said, you did not inquire about the guest. He asked, have you not yet given them dinner? Umm Ruman said, what could I do, they refused to eat until you came. They were asked to eat, but they did not agree. Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that I hid in fear. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) called out (to Abdur Rahman), O Ghunsar! (meaning, O naughty one) He scolded and cursed. He said, eat, may it not be blessed for you! By Allah! I will never eat this food. (Eventually, the guests were fed) (Abdur Rahman, may Allah be pleased with him, said) Allah is witness that whenever we took a morsel, there was more food underneath than before. He narrated that everyone ate to their fill, and the food was left over even more than before. When Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) saw, the food was as much as before or even more. He said to his wife, O sister of Banu Firas! What is this matter? She said, by the coolness of my eyes! This is three times more than before. Then Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) also ate that food and said, my swearing was a satanic whisper. Then he took a morsel from it. And he took the remaining food to the service of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and presented it to him. It remained with the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until morning. Abdur Rahman said that we Muslims had a treaty with people of another tribe. And the duration of the treaty had ended. (A delegation from that tribe had come to Madinah to discuss the treaty) We separated twelve men from among them, and only Allah knows how many people were with each of them, all of them ate from it. Abdur Rahman (may Allah be pleased with him) said something similar.