kept you from your guests?’
He said, ‘Did you not give them dinner (1)?’
She replied, ‘They refused until you came. They were offered dinner, but the guests would not be persuaded.’” He then related the hadith (2).
In another narration, he said:
“My father would converse with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, at night. On the migration journey, none but my father accompanied him (3), and on the day of Badr, none but my father remained with him in the shelter.” (4)
He also said:
“Of all people, Abū Bakr has conferred the greatest favor upon us (5) through his companionship and wealth. Had I been one to take anyone on earth as an intimate friend, I would have taken Abū Bakr as my intimate friend.”
This is among the soundest of the authentic hadiths widely attested in the Sahīh collections through numerous routes (6).
It is related in the two Sahīh collections from Abū al-Dardā, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: “I was sitting
(1) In (N), (M), and (S), the reading is *wa-mā*, omitting the initial interrogative particle; (B) reads *a-wa-mā ashhaytīhim?* (“Did you [feminine singular] not give them dinner?”). The corrected reading follows *Sahīh Muslim*.
(2) This hadith, with variations in wording, is narrated from Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them both, in: *al-Bukhārī*, 1/134 (*Book of the Times of Prayer*, “Evening Conversation with Guests and Family”); 4/194–195 (*Book of Virtues*, “Signs of Prophethood in Islam”); 8/33 (*Book of Manners*, “A Guest Saying to His Host: ‘I Will Not Eat Until You Eat’”); Muslim, 3/1628 (*Book of Drinks*, “Honoring the Guest and the Merit of Giving Him Preference”); *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, 3/308–309 (*Book of Oaths and Vows*, “One Who Swears Not to Eat a Certain Food”); and *al-Musnad* (al-Maārif ed.), 3/159–161, no. 1712. See also nos. 1702, 1704, and 1713.
(3) In (N) and (M): “none but Abū Bakr.”
(4) Despite checking all the passages cited above, I have not found this narration with this wording. In Muslim, hadith no. 177 (*Book of Drinks*, “Honoring the Guest”), Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: “Guests came to stay with us.” He continued: “My father would converse with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, at night…”
(5) In (S) and (B), the pronoun is singular: “upon me.”
(6) This hadith appeared earlier, 1/512–513.