1051 — Al-Firyābī narrated to us, saying: Abū Salama Yahyā ibn Khalaf narrated to us, saying: Abd al-Alā narrated to us, on the authority of Saīd al-Jurayrī, on the authority of Abū al-Ward, on the authority of Abū ⦗1565⦘ Muhammad al-Hadramī, on the authority of Abū Ayyūb al-Ansārī, who said:

I prepared enough food for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and Abū Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and brought it to them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Go and invite thirty of the leading men of the Ansār to join me.” This troubled me, for I had nothing more to add to the food. It seemed that I hesitated, so he said, “Go and invite thirty men from among the leading men of the Ansār to join me.”

I invited them, and they came. He said, “Serve them food.” They ate until they had finished. They then testified that he was the Messenger of Allah and pledged allegiance to him before departing.

He then said, “Go and invite sixty of the leading men of the Ansār to join me.” Abū Ayyūb said: By Allah, I was more willing to invite sixty than I had been to invite thirty. I invited them, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Come forward.” They ate until they had finished. They then testified that he was the Messenger of Allah and pledged allegiance to him before departing.

He then said, “Go ⦗1566⦘ and invite ninety of the Ansār to join me.” He said: I was still more willing to invite the ninety than I had been to invite the sixty and the thirty. I invited them, and they ate until they had finished. They then testified that he was the Messenger of Allah and pledged allegiance to him before departing.

He said: Thus, one hundred and eighty men ate from my food, all of them from the Ansār.