Commentary

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—cites under the chapter of altruism this magnificent and astonishing hadith, which portrays the state of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and his Companions. A man came to the Prophet and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I am utterly exhausted,” that is, worn out by poverty and hunger, and he was a guest of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Prophet then sent to his wives, one after another, asking each whether she had anything. Every one of them replied, “No, by the One Who sent you with the truth, I have nothing except water.”

Nine separate dwellings of the Prophet ﷺ, and not a single one contained anything but water—though had he wished, Allah could have made the mountains walk with him as gold. Yet he ﷺ was the most ascetic of people regarding worldly life; in all nine of his houses there was nothing but water.

The Prophet ﷺ therefore said, “Who will host this man tonight?”—meaning this guest. A man from the Helpers said, “I will, O Messenger of Allah; I shall host him.” He took the guest to his own house and said to his wife, “Do we have anything?” She replied, “Nothing except the supper of my children,” meaning the only food in the house was what had been prepared for the children that night. He said, “Honor the guest of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ,” and instructed her to occupy the children and distract them.

When the time for the meal arrived, she put the children to bed, extinguished the lamp, and showed the guest