We would eat whatever remained, seeking thereby its blessing, until one night we sent his supper and had put into it some onion—or garlic. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent the dish back and I could see no mark of his blessed hand upon it.

Alarmed, I went to him and said, “O Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be ransomed for you! You have returned your supper and I see no trace of your hand in it.” He replied, “I detected the odour of this plant in it, and I am a man who engages in intimate discourse (with my Lord). As for you, eat it.”

So we ate it, and from that time on we never put that plant in his food again.

Al-Bayhaqī likewise narrated this report (1) through al-Layth ibn Saʿd, from Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, from Abū al-Ḥasan—or Abū al-Khayr—Marthad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Yazanī, from Abū Ruhm, from Abū Ayyūb, and he mentioned it in full.

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah (2) also transmitted it from Yūnus ibn Muḥammad al-Muʾaddib, from al-Layth.

Al-Bayhaqī (3) said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ related to us, Abū ʿAmr al-Ḥayrī related to us, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd al-Dārimī narrated to us, Abū al-Nuʿmān narrated to us, Thābit ibn Yazīd (4) narrated to us, ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith, from Aflah, the freedman of Abū Ayyūb, from Abū Ayyūb:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ lodged with him, taking the lower room while Abū Ayyūb stayed above. One night Abū Ayyūb awoke and cried, “We are walking above the head of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ!” So they withdrew to one side and spent the night there. The next morning he mentioned this to the Prophet ﷺ, who said, “The lower level is easier for us.” Abū Ayyūb replied, “I shall never occupy a roof beneath which you are.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ therefore moved to the upper floor and Abū Ayyūb to the lower.

Abū Ayyūb would prepare food for the Prophet ﷺ, and when it was brought back he would ask where the Prophet’s fingers had touched so that he might eat from that spot. On one occasion he made a dish that contained garlic. When it was returned, he asked where the Prophet’s fingers had touched and was told that he had not eaten from it. Alarmed, he went up and said, “Is it unlawful?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “No, but I dislike it.” Abū Ayyūb said, “Then I dislike what you dislike”—or, “what you have disliked.” The narrator added, “The Prophet ﷺ was visited by the angel.”

Muslim (5) recorded this ḥadīth from Aḥmad ibn Saʿīd with the same chain.

It is also established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik (6), that a large bowl (7)—in another narration, a pot—containing assorted green herbs was brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. [He noticed its odour] (8), asked about its contents, and was informed that it held various vegetables. He said, “Bring it nearer,” and they placed it before one of his companions. When the Prophet saw that he was hesitant to eat, he said, “Eat, for I converse with One with Whom you do not converse.”