10 – Dawud b. ʿAmr b. Zuhayr al-Dabbi narrated to us; Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Asadi narrated to us; Saʿid b. Muslim narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Warith, from Anas b. Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the verse, “They prefer others to themselves even though they themselves are in need” (al-Hashr 59:9).

He said: The verse was revealed about a man from the Ansar. The Prophet ﷺ sent one of his guests home with him, and when the man arrived at his house his wife asked, “What is this?” He replied, “This is a guest of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” She said, “By the One Who sent Muhammad with the truth, we have nothing this evening but a single loaf. That loaf is either for me, for you, for the guest, or for the servant.” He said, “Crumble the loaf, season it with some ghee, then serve it, and tell the servant to put out the lamp.” She and he began licking their lips ⦗20⦘ so that the guest imagined they were eating.

The next morning he prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and when the Prophet ﷺ had finished he asked, “Where is the man who hosted the guest?”—three times—while the man kept silent. Finally he said, “I am, O Messenger of Allah.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Gabriel has informed me that Allah, exalted is He, laughed when you told your servant, ‘Put out the lamp,’ and the verse, ‘They prefer others to themselves…’ (al-Hashr 59:9) down to His words, ‘So it is they who will prosper’ (al-Aʿrāf 7:8), was revealed.”