The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“Pass me its fore-leg.”
So I handed it to him. He then said,
“Pass me its fore-leg.”
I handed it to him again, whereupon he said a third time,
“Pass me its fore-leg.”
I asked, “O Prophet of Allah, how many fore-legs does a sheep have?”
He replied, “By Him in Whose hand is my soul, had you remained silent, it would have continued to give me a fore-leg each time I asked for one.”
Al-Tirmidhī also recorded this in al-Shamāʾil (1) through Bundār, from Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm, from Abān ibn Yazīd al-ʿAṭṭār.
Among them is Abū ʿAsīb—though some say Abū ʿAsīm (2). The correct view is the former, although certain scholars distinguish between the two (3). As mentioned earlier, he performed the funeral prayer for the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—was present at his burial, and narrated the story of al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah.
Al-Ḥārith ibn Abī Usāmah (4) said: “Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us; Muslim ibn ʿUbayd Abū Nuṣayrah narrated to us: I heard Abū ʿAsīb, the freedman of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—say: The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said,
‘Gabriel came to me with fever and plague. I kept fever in Madinah and sent plague to Greater Syria. Plague is martyrdom for my community, a mercy for them, and a defilement upon the unbeliever.’”
Imām Aḥmad likewise transmitted it (5) from Yazīd ibn Hārūn.
Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Mandah said: “Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb informed us; Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq al-Ṣāghānī narrated to us; Yūnus ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; Hashraj ibn Nubātah narrated to us; Abū Nuṣayrah al-Baṣrī told me on the authority of Abū ʿAsīb, the freedman of the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—who said:
‘The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—went out one night. He passed by me and called me, so I joined him. He then passed by Abū Bakr and called him, and he joined us; then he passed by ʿUmar and called him, and he joined us. The Prophet walked on until he entered an orchard belonging to one of the Anṣār.
The Messenger of Allah said to the owner of the orchard, “Serve us fresh dates.” He brought them and set them down; the Messenger of Allah ate, and they all ate with him. Then he asked for water and drank from it, after which he said,
“Indeed, concerning this blessing you shall be questioned on the Day of Resurrection.”
ʿUmar took a palm stalk, struck it on the ground, and the fresh dates scattered. He then said, “O Messenger of Allah, will we really be questioned about this on the Day of Resurrection?”
He replied, “Yes—except in three cases: a cloth with which a man covers his nakedness, a morsel that satisfies his hunger, or a shelter into which he enters—meaning from heat or cold.”’
Imām Aḥmad also narrated it (7) through Suraij (8) from Hashraj.