and he had a faint stain of saffron upon him.(1) The Prophet ﷺ asked, “What is the matter, O ʿAbd al-Raḥmān?”(2) He answered, “O Messenger of Allah, I have married a woman from the Anṣār.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “What bride-price did you give her?” He replied, “The weight of a date-stone in gold.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Give a wedding feast, even if only with a single sheep.”
This chain is unique in this form, though the ḥadīth is also reported elsewhere, and Muslim records it through several routes from Ḥumayd.(3)
Imām Aḥmad(4) narrated: ʿAffān told us; Ḥammād told us; Thābit and Ḥumayd, from Anas, that when ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf arrived in Madinah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established brotherhood between him and Saʿd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Anṣārī. Saʿd said, “My brother, I am the wealthiest man in Madinah. Look at half of my wealth and take it. I also have two wives; see which of them pleases you, and I will divorce her for you.” ʿAbd al-Raḥmān replied, “May Allah bless your family and your wealth for you; just show me the marketplace.” They showed him, and he went, bought and sold, and earned a profit, returning with some dried curd and clarified butter. After a time, as Allah willed, he came back with traces of saffron on him,(5) and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “What is the matter?” He replied, “O Messenger of Allah, I have married a woman.” He asked, “What dower did you give her?” He said, “The weight of a date-stone in gold.” He said, “Give a wedding feast, even if only with a single sheep.” ʿAbd al-Raḥmān added, “I came to see myself such that, were I to lift a stone, I would hope to find gold or silver beneath it.”(6)
Al-Bukhārī’s suspended transmission of this report directly from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf is unusual, for it is not known with a continuous chain except through Anas—unless Anas himself received it from him. Allah knows best.(7)
Imām Aḥmad(8) also said: Yazīd narrated to us; Ḥumayd informed us, from Anas, who said: The Emigrants said, “O Messenger of Allah, we have never seen people like those among whom we have arrived—more willing to share when they have little, nor more generous in giving when they have plenty! They have relieved us of every burden…"(9)