Al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 3154 — The life of the Salaf

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to me: One night I missed my supper. I came home and asked: "Do you have any supper?" My family said: "By Allah! We have no supper." I lay down on my bed, but because of hunger sleep would not come. So I thought that it would be better if I went to the mosque, prayed there and passed the time until morning. So I went out to the mosque and prayed as much as Allah willed, then I sat leaning in a corner of the mosque. Meanwhile Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) appeared and asked: "Who is this?" I said: "Abu Bakr." He asked: "What has brought you out at this hour?" I told him the whole story, and he said: "By Allah! The same thing that brought you out has brought me out too." Then he sat down beside me. While we were in this state, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us and did not recognise us (seeing us there at that time). He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Who are these?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) answered before me, saying: "These are Abu Bakr and Umar." He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What has brought the two of you out at this hour?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I came out and entered the mosque and saw the figure of Abu Bakr. I asked: Who is it? He said: Abu Bakr. I asked: What has brought you out at this hour? He mentioned the whole matter, and I said: By Allah! The same cause that brought you out has brought me out." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By Allah! The same thing that brought the two of you out has brought me out too. Come with us to Abu al-Haytham bin al-Tayyihan al-Waqifi; perhaps we will find something to eat with him." So we set off until we reached his garden on a moonlit night and knocked on the door. His wife asked: "Who is it?" Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "This is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Bakr and Umar." She opened the door for us and we entered. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Where is your husband?" She said: "He has gone to fetch sweet water for us from a garden of Banu Harithah; he will come right away." Meanwhile he came carrying a waterskin, hung it from a branch of a date palm, and turned to us, saying: "Welcome, and a blessed arrival! Never have better guests come to anyone than the guests who have come to me." Then he cut a cluster of dates for us and brought it before us, and we began picking out the dates in the moonlight and eating them. Then he took a knife and went towards the goats, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Beware of the milking goat." He took a goat, slaughtered it and skinned it, then said to his wife: "Get up (and prepare the food)." So she ground flour and baked bread, cut the meat into pieces and put it in the pot, and lit a fire beneath it until the meat and bread were ready. Then he made tharid and poured broth and meat over it, then brought it to us and placed it before us, and we ate our fill. Then he went to the waterskin, which the wind had cooled, poured water from it into a vessel and offered it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who drank it; then he gave it to Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and he drank; then he gave it to Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), and he drank. At this the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Al-hamdu lillah (All praise is for Allah), who brought us out, though nothing but hunger had brought us out (of our homes); then we are returning, and we have received these (blessings). You will surely be asked about them on the Day of Resurrection; these too are among the blessings." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Abu al-Haytham (may Allah be pleased with him): "Do you not have a servant who brings you water?" He said: "By Allah! No, O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When captives come to us, come to us, so that we may order a servant for you." Only a little time had passed before captives were brought to him (peace and blessings be upon him). Abu al-Haytham (may Allah be pleased with him) came, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "What brings you?" He said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! The promise that you made to me." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Here are the captives; get up and choose one of them." He said: "You choose for me." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take this boy and treat him well." He took him to his wife, who asked: "What is this?" He told her the whole story. His wife asked: "What did you say to him (peace and blessings be upon him)?" He said: "I said: You choose for me." His wife said: "You did very well. He (peace and blessings be upon him) enjoined you to treat him well, so treat him kindly." The husband asked: "What could be the best treatment of him?" The wife replied: "That you set him free." He said: "Then he is free for the pleasure of Allah Almighty."
The chain of this narration contains a narrator named Yahya bin Ubaydullah al-Taymi, who is da'if (weak); however, the origin of this incident is narrated with various supporting reports and chains in other books of hadith, including Sahih Muslim [hadith no. 5328], which establishes the reality of this incident.