2484 — “By Allah, Aisha, if I wished, Allah would cause mountains of gold and silver to flow with me.”

Ibn Sa‘d narrated it in al-Tabaqat (1/465), and Abu al-Shaykh in The Prophet’s Character (pp. 166–167), through the route of ‘Abbad ibn ‘Abbad al-Muhallabi, from Mujalid, from al-Sha‘bi, from Masruq, from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her. She said:

“A woman from the Ansar entered upon me and saw that the bedding of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was a folded cloak. She went away and sent him bedding stuffed with wool. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then entered upon me and asked, ‘What is this?’ I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, so-and-so, an Ansari woman, entered upon me and saw your bedding. She went away and sent this.’

“He said, ‘Send it back.’ But I did not send it back, for I liked having it in my house, until he said this three times. Then he said the words cited above.”

Al-Bayhaqi also narrated it through this route, as cited in al-Targhib (4/115), and indicated that it was strengthened. I say: This chain of transmission consists of trustworthy narrators, all of whom are narrators of the two Sahihs apart from Mujalid—namely, Ibn Sa‘id—who is weak. Al-Hafiz said: “He is not strong.”

I say: But I found for it an acceptable corroborating report, narrated by Abu Ma‘shar, from Sa‘id, from Aisha, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“O Aisha, if I wished, mountains of gold would travel with me. An angel came to me whose waist was level with the Ka‘bah, and he said: ‘Your Lord conveys greetings of peace to you and says: If you wish, you may be a servant-prophet; and if you wish, a king-prophet.’ I looked at Gabriel, and he gestured to me that I should humble myself. So I said, ‘A servant-prophet.’ Thereafter, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would not eat while reclining. He would say, ‘I eat as a servant eats, and I sit as a servant sits.’”