Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: "A man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) so that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would host him, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) had nothing with which to feed him. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Is there anyone who will host this man? May Allah have mercy on him.' A man from the Ansar came and took him to his home. He said to his wife: 'Honour the guest of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).' She said: 'By Allah, we have nothing but the children's food.' He said: 'Put the children to sleep, light the lamp and place the food before the guest of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and make it look to him as if we are eating with him; then put out the lamp and leave the food for the guest of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).' So she did that."
Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The next day Sayyiduna Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'Allah Almighty was greatly amazed at such-and-such a man and such-and-such a woman (or he said: He laughed),' meaning Abu Talhah and his wife, and Allah revealed concerning them this verse: 'And they give preference to others over themselves, even though they themselves are in dire need.'"
Imam al-Tabarani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "No one narrated these hadiths from Fudayl bin Ghazwan except Muhammad bin Fudayl."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الأوسط / باب الباء / 3272
Hadith Takhrij«أخرجه البخاري فى «صحيحه» برقم: 3798، 4889، ومسلم فى «صحيحه» برقم: 2054، وابن حبان فى «صحيحه» برقم: 5286، 7264، والحاكم فى «المستدرك» برقم: 7269، والنسائي فى «السنن الكبرى» برقم: 11518، والترمذي فى «جامعه» برقم: 3304، والبيهقي فى «السنن الكبرى» برقم: 7896، وأبو يعلى فى «مسنده» برقم: 6168، 6182، 6194، وابن أبي شيبة فى «مصنفه» برقم: 35850»