I drew close and whispered, “O Messenger of Allah, we have slaughtered a small animal of ours and ground a sāʿ of barley that we possessed. Please come—and bring a handful of men with you.”
But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ called out at the top of his voice: “People of the trench! Jābir has prepared a little food for you—come, you are all welcome!”
He then said, “Do not take your pot off the fire and do not bake your dough until I arrive.”
I hurried home, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came, leading the people. When I reached my wife she cried, “Oh woe, oh woe!” I replied, “I did exactly as you said.” She produced the dough; he spat in it and invoked blessing, then went to our pot, spat in it and invoked blessing.
He said, “Call a woman who bakes; let her bake with you. Keep ladling from your pot, but do not set it down.”
They were one thousand in number. By Allah, they ate until they were satisfied and dispersed, while our pot was still bubbling as before and our dough remained just as it was.
Muslim also transmitted this narration through Ḥajjāj ibn al-Shāʿir, from Abū ʿĀṣim, in similar wording.
Muhammad ibn Isḥāq likewise reported the ḥadīth, though his version contains some peculiar features. He said: Saʿīd ibn Mināʾ related to me from Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah:
“We were working with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at the trench, and I owned a small ewe that was not very fat. I thought, ‘By Allah, we should prepare it for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.’ I told my wife, who ground some barley and baked bread, while I slaughtered the ewe and roasted it for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
“When evening came and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was about to leave the trench—we worked there by day and returned to our families at night—I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I have prepared for you a small ewe we had and some barley bread; I would like you to come to my house.’ I only intended that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would come with me alone.
“He answered, ‘Yes,’ but then ordered a herald, who proclaimed, ‘Accompany the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to the house of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allah!’ I exclaimed, ‘We belong to Allah and to Him we shall return!’
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came, and the people came with him. He sat down and we set the food before him. He invoked blessing, mentioned the Name of Allah, and began to eat. People kept arriving in groups; whenever one company finished, they left and others came, until everyone who had been digging the trench had eaten from it.”
What is remarkable is that Imām Aḥmad narrates this report only through the chain of Saʿīd ibn Mināʾ, from Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿd, from his father, from Ibn Isḥāq, from him, from Jābir—identical in wording to the above.