14 – ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿAtakī narrated to us; he said: ⦗34⦘ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Muḥāribī narrated, from Yaḥyā ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Madanī, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, from Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq—may Allah be pleased with him—who said:

“One night I missed the evening meal. I went back to my family and asked, ‘Do you have anything for supper?’ They replied, ‘No.’ I lay down on my bed, turning restlessly, unable to sleep because of hunger. I said to myself, ‘What if I go to the mosque, pray, and busy myself there until dawn?’ So I went out and prayed as much as Allah willed, then leaned against a wall in one corner. ʿUmar came upon me and said, ‘Nothing brought me out except the same thing that brought you out.’ While we were there, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out and said, ‘The only thing that has brought me out is the same that brought you two out. Come with me to the house of al-Wāqimī.’

We walked on in the moonlight. The Prophet ﷺ said to the man’s wife, ‘Where is your husband?’ She replied, ‘He has gone to bring us sweet water from the spring of Banū Ḥārithah.’ He soon arrived carrying his water-skin ⦗35⦘, hung it on a palm tree, then turned to us and said, ‘Welcome and greetings! No people have ever been honored with visitors like those who have visited us tonight!’

He went to a date cluster and cut it down, then took a knife and walked among the sheep. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Take care—do not slaughter a ewe that gives milk,’ or he said, ‘one with a full udder.’ So the man slaughtered an animal, skinned it, told his wife to knead the dough and bake, cut the meat into the pots and lit the fire beneath them. He then prepared tharīd (crumbled bread soaked in broth), ladled out some broth and meat, and placed it before us. We ate until we were satisfied.

Afterwards he went to the water-skin, which the cool breeze had chilled, poured water into a vessel, and served us. He then passed it to the Prophet ﷺ, who drank, then to Abū Bakr, then to ʿUmar.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Praise be to Allah who brought us out, and nothing brought us out but hunger; yet we did not return until we had enjoyed this. You will surely be questioned about this on the Day of Resurrection, for this is part of the bounty.’”