Ibn Ḥibbān also narrated it (2539), as did Aḥmad (3/487), through several routes from Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, from Abū Ḥarb ibn Abī al-Aswad, from him. He said:

“I came to Madinah, where I knew no one, and I stayed at the Ṣuffah—the sheltered platform at the Prophet’s Mosque—with another man. Each day, he and I had one mudd-measure of dates between us. One day, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, led the prayer, and when he had finished, one of the people of the Ṣuffah said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, the dates have scorched our stomachs, and our sandals have worn out!’

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, then ascended and delivered a sermon. He said: ‘By Allah, if I had found bread or meat, I would have fed it to you. But you will soon live to see a time when large platters will be brought to you in the evening, and you will wear garments like the coverings of the Kaʿbah.’”

He said: My companion and I remained for eighteen days and nights with no food but inferior barīr dates, until we came to our brothers among the Anṣār, who shared with us. The best thing that came our way was these dates.

The wording is Aḥmad’s—and it is more complete. Its chain of transmission is authentic, and all its narrators are among Muslim’s narrators. Al-Haythamī (10/322–323) said: “Al-Ṭabarānī and al-Bazzār narrated it with similar wording … and al-Bazzār’s narrators are those of the authentic collections, apart from Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān al-ʿUqaylī, who is trustworthy.”

I say: This is an oversight. Aḥmad also narrated it, so it was necessary to attribute it to him, particularly since all its narrators are among those of the authentic collections.

The hadith also has another corroborating report from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd al-Khaṭmī: the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Are you better today, or when each of you is brought a platter in the morning and another in the evening, goes out in one outfit and returns in another, and you drape your houses as the Kaʿbah is draped?” A man said, “Will we be better then?” He said, “Rather, you are better today.” Al-Haythamī said: