Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 6455

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once in Madinah I was afflicted with severe hunger. I went out looking for work in the outskirts of Madinah, and there was a woman who had gathered some clods of clay; I thought she wanted to wet them. So I agreed with her that there would be one date for every bucket. I drew sixteen buckets for her, until my hands became numb. Then I came to the water and drank from it. Then I came to that woman and said: (Holding out) my two palms like this. Here the narrator Isma'il bin Ibrahim spread out both his hands and joined them together (meaning: this much is my wage). So she counted out sixteen dates for me. I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and told him about it, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ate some of those dates with me. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say:
Ibn Majah recorded this narration in abridged form.
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except that the narrator Mujahid did not hear from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him); and Allah knows best.