Muslim also records the report in the Book of Foods (1) through ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, from al-Qaʿnabi, from al-Darāwardī, from Yaḥyā ibn ʿUmārah ibn Abī Ḥasan al-Anṣārī al-Māzinī, from his father, from Anas ibn Mālik, in wording close to what has already been cited.

[Another chain]
Muslim likewise relates it in the Book of Foods (2) through Ḥarmalah, from Ibn Wahb, from Usāmah ibn Zayd al-Laythī, from Yaʿqūb ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, from Anas, with similar wording.

Al-Bayhaqī remarks (3): “In some versions of these reports it adds: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ate, the members of the household ate, and what remained reached their neighbors.’ ”

Thus, these are multiple, mutually corroborating routes from Anas ibn Mālik—may Allah be pleased with him—showing that he personally witnessed the event, despite slight differences in phrasing. The essence of the story is, without doubt, mass-transmitted, as you can see; praise and thanks belong to Allah.

It was transmitted from Anas ibn Mālik by: Isḥāq ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Muzanī, Thābit ibn Aslam al-Bunānī, al-Jaʿd Abū ʿUthmān (4), Saʿd ibn Saʿīd—the brother of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī—Sinān ibn Rabīʿah, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, al-Naḍr ibn Anas, Yaḥyā ibn ʿUmārah ibn Abī Ḥasan, and Yaʿqūb ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ṭalḥah.

Earlier, in the section on the Battle of the Trench, we quoted the ḥadīth of Jābir describing how the Prophet ﷺ accepted his invitation when all he had was one sāʿ of barley and a young she-goat (5). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ insisted that the entire force of the Trench—about a thousand men, or nearly so—accompany him. All of them ate from the meat of that kid and from that single sāʿ until they were fully satisfied, yet the food remained as it was. We have already provided its chain, wording, and various routes, and all praise and grace are Allah’s.

Even more astonishing is what the ḥāfiẓ Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Munḏir al-Harawī—known as Shukr—records in his book “Al-ʿAjāʾib al-Gharība” regarding this ḥadīth. He cites it with its complete isnād and in full detail, and at its conclusion mentions something remarkable. He says:

“Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Ṭarkhān narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Masrūr narrated to us; Hāshim ibn Hāshim—whose kunyah is Abū Barzah—narrated to us in Mecca, inside the Sacred Mosque; Abū Kaʿb al-Baddāḥ ibn Sahl al-Anṣārī, one of the people of Madinah whom Hārūn transferred to Baghdad, narrated to us—I heard it from him at al-Maṣṣīṣah—from his father, Sahl ibn …”