after their camels? Rather, have them bring whatever remains of their provisions, then call down blessing upon it; perhaps Allah will place abundance in it.’

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, replied, ‘Yes.’ He asked for a leather cloth (nitaʿ) to be spread out, and then requested the remnants of their supplies.

One man came with a handful of grain, another with a handful of dates, and another with a piece of bread, until only a small amount lay gathered on the leather cloth.

The Messenger of Allah invoked blessing over it and said, ‘Transfer it into your containers.’

They filled their containers until there was not a single vessel left in the entire camp without being filled. They ate until every one of them was satisfied, and there was still some left over—the rest of the ḥadīth.

Al-Bukhārī also narrated—on the authority of Salama ibn al-Akwaʿ—who said:

‘We set out with the Messenger of Allah on an expedition, and hardship struck us so severely that we considered slaughtering some of our riding animals. The Prophet of Allah ordered us to gather our saddle-bags of food, so we spread out a leather cloth for him, and the people’s provisions were collected upon it. He said: …’