He said: "That burdened me, for I had nothing with which to augment the food." He continued: "I felt reluctant," so he said again,

“Go and invite for me thirty of the nobles of the Anṣār.”

I invited them and they came. He then said,

“Eat.”

They ate until they were satisfied, then they bore witness that he is the Messenger of Allah and gave him their pledge before leaving.

He then said,

“Go and invite for me sixty of the nobles of the Anṣār.”

Abū Ayyūb remarked, “By Allah, I felt more at ease about the sixty than I had about the thirty.” I invited them, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

“Seat yourselves in fours.”

They ate until they were full, testified that he is the Messenger of Allah, and pledged allegiance to him before departing.

He then said,

“Go and invite for me ninety of the Anṣār.”

He added, “I was even more confident about the ninety and the sixty than I had been about the thirty.” I invited them; they ate until they were satisfied, testified that he is the Messenger of Allah, and pledged allegiance before leaving.

In all, one hundred and eighty men—every one of them from the Anṣār—ate from that same meal of mine.

This ḥadīth is very unusual in both its chain of transmission and its content. Al-Bayhaqī also narrated it through Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr al-Maqdamī, from ʿAbd al-Aʿlā.

[Another account of food being multiplied in the house of Fāṭimah]

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Yaʿlā said: Sahl ibn Ḥanẓalah related to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us; Ibn Luhayʿah told me, from Muḥammad ibn al-Munkadir, from Jābir:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ went several days without tasting food until it weighed heavily upon him. He visited the homes of his wives but found nothing with any of them. He then came to Fāṭimah and said,

“My dear daughter, do you have anything for me to eat? I am hungry.”

She replied, “No, by Allah—may my father and mother be ransomed for you.” When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ left her, a neighbor sent her two loaves of bread and a piece of meat. She took them, placed them in a wooden bowl, and covered it, saying, “By Allah, I will favor the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with this over myself and those with me,” for they were all in need of a single satisfying meal.

She sent Ḥasan—or Ḥusayn—to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the child returned to her. She said to him, “By my father and mother, Allah has brought something; I have saved it for you.” He said,

“Bring it here, my daughter.”

When she uncovered the bowl, it was filled with bread and meat. She was astonished and realized it was a blessing from Allah. She praised Allah, invoked blessings upon His Prophet ﷺ, and presented it to the Messenger of Allah.

When he saw it, he praised Allah and said,

“My daughter, where did this come from?”

She said, “Father, it is from Allah; indeed Allah provides for whom He wills without measure.”

He praised Allah and said,

“Praise be to Allah who has made you, my daughter, resemble the foremost woman of the Children of Israel. Whenever Allah granted her something and she was asked about it, she would say, ‘It is from Allah; indeed Allah provides for whom He wills without measure.’”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then sent for ʿAlī. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, ʿAlī, Fāṭimah, Ḥasan, Ḥusayn, all the wives of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and all the members of his household ate from it—until