Yahyā ibn ʿAbbās al-Qaṭṭān narrated to us; Ḥafṣ ibn ʿAmr narrated to us; Sahl ibn Ziyād Abū Ziyād narrated to us; he said: Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on campaign when we were struck by a shortage of food. He asked, “Abū Hurayrah, do you have anything?” I replied, “A little dates in my pouch.” He said, “Bring it.” I brought the pouch. He then said, “Fetch a leather cloth.” I brought a leather cloth and spread it out. He put his hand inside, took hold of the dates, and they turned out to be twenty-one (dates; then he said, “In the name of Allah.”)(1) He set down each date, naming Allah over every one of them, until he had finished, then gathered them together with his hand and said,
“Call so-and-so and his companions.”
They ate until they were full and left. He again said,
“Call so-and-so and his companions.”
They ate until they were full and left. Then he said,
“Call so-and-so and his companions.”
They ate, were satisfied, and left. Finally he said,
“Call so-and-so and his companions.”
They ate, were satisfied, and left, and still some dates remained. He then said to me,
“Sit down.”
So I sat, and he ate and I ate. Dates were still left, so I returned them to the pouch. He said to me,
“Abū Hurayrah, whenever you want something, put your hand in and take, but do not overturn it,(2) lest it be emptied.”
After that, whenever I wanted dates I would reach in and take, and I later distributed from it fifty wasqs in the cause of Allah. The pouch was hanging behind my saddle; during the time of ʿUthmān it fell off and was lost.(3)
Another chain from Abū Hurayrah on the same matter:
Al-Bayhaqī transmitted, by two routes, from Sahl ibn Aslam al-ʿAdawī, from Yazīd ibn Abī Manṣūr, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, who said:
“I was struck by three calamities in Islam the like of which I never experienced: the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—and I had been his close companion—the killing of ʿUthmān, and the loss of the pouch.”
They asked, “What is the pouch, Abū Hurayrah?” He replied:
“We were travelling with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he said, ‘Abū Hurayrah, do you have anything with you?’ I said, ‘Dates in a pouch.’ He said, ‘Bring it.’ I took out some dates and brought them to him. He touched them and prayed over them, then said, ‘Invite ten men.’ I invited ten; they ate until they were full. He kept doing that until the whole army had eaten, yet some dates still remained with me in the pouch. He then said, ‘Abū Hurayrah, whenever you wish to take from it, put your hand in and do not overturn it.’ I ate from it throughout the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ, the entire lifetime of Abū Bakr, the entire lifetime of ʿUmar, and the entire lifetime of ʿUthmān. When ʿUthmān was killed, what was in my hand was snatched away and the pouch was stolen. Shall I tell you how much I had eaten from it? I ate from it more than two hundred wasqs.(4)"