during the third; that is the sunnah.

As for passing the vessel—that is, whom one should begin with when offering the drink—consider the following example: a man enters carrying tea or coffee; to whom should he give it first? We say: if someone present has asked for a drink, saying, for instance, “Bring me some water,” then he is served first. If no one has made such a request, one begins with the eldest, then the next eldest, and that person in turn hands it to the one on his right.

When each person has his own cup, he likewise starts with the eldest and then gives the cup to the one on his left, because the person on his left is actually on the right of the server (al-ṣāb), and the server is the one who will be distributing the cups. Thus he begins with the person on his right, and the one on the server’s right is the one on the drinker’s left, for the server faces the drinker, making the drinker’s left side the server’s right side.

For example, if someone requests water, the water is brought, and he drinks from it and wishes to hand it on: if the person who brought the drink is standing beside him, that server will say, “Pass me the vessel when you are finished,” and he returns it to him. If no one is waiting, then when he has finished he passes it to the person on his right—whether that person is young or old, noble or of humble status.

The proof for this is that the Prophet ﷺ was brought milk diluted with water, and after drinking—while to his right