Bayhaqi 4339 — A Muslim spending the night in the mosque

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I swear by Allah, the Lord of Might, the only one worthy of worship, I used to press my stomach against the ground out of hunger, and I used to tie a stone to my stomach out of hunger. One day I sat on the path where people commonly passed, and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by me. I asked him about a verse of the Book of Allah. I asked him only so that he would take me along with him, but he did not grasp what I meant and went on. Then Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) passed by, and I asked him the same, my only aim being that he would take me along with him, but he too went on without grasping what I meant. At last Abu al-Qasim (the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)) passed that way. He (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled when he saw me and recognised the state of my heart and my face. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) called me: "O Abu Hurayrah!" I said: "Here I am, O Messenger of Allah." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Come along!" So I kept following behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until he (peace and blessings be upon him) entered his house; I asked permission and then I too entered his (peace and blessings be upon him) house. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw milk there in a cup and asked: "Where has this milk come from?" They replied: "So-and-so, or such-and-such a woman, sent it to you (peace and blessings be upon him) as a gift." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) sent me to call the People of the Suffah. The People of the Suffah were the guests of Islam; they had no family or wealth to turn to. Whenever charity came to him (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) would send it to them without taking anything from it, and whenever a gift came to him (peace and blessings be upon him), he (peace and blessings be upon him) would share it with them too, and now also he (peace and blessings be upon him) wanted to share the milk with them. This displeased me. I thought: What is this milk compared to the People of the Suffah? I had hoped that I would get this milk so that I could relieve my hunger, and I was the messenger as well; he (peace and blessings be upon him) had ordered me to bring them, and I had no hope of getting any milk, but obedience to Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was also necessary. I went to them and called them. They asked permission; he (peace and blessings be upon him) gave them permission, and they sat down in the house. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Hurayrah!" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Take this cup and give them milk to drink." I took the cup; I would give it to one man, and after drinking his fill he would return the cup. Then I would give it to another, and he too would drink his fill and return the cup, until I reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and all the people had drunk their fill of milk. He (peace and blessings be upon him) took the cup, looked at me and smiled, and said: "O Abu Hurayrah!" I said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah!" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Now only you and I remain." I said: "You (peace and blessings be upon him) have spoken the truth." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Drink!" So I drank. Then he said: "Drink more!" And a third time he (peace and blessings be upon him) said again: "Drink!" and I drank. He (peace and blessings be upon him) kept repeating these words, until I said: "By Allah! Now I find no room for it at all." Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Give it to me." I gave the cup to him (peace and blessings be upon him); he (peace and blessings be upon him) praised Allah and, after saying 'Bismillah' (in the name of Allah), drank the remaining milk.