Asma’ mentioned above. It is clear to any discerning person that the wording, “more conducive to blessing,” is not equivalent to, “devoid of blessing.” The former only implies that it has less blessing than the other; that is one thing. The latter, however, states that it has no blessing. The other corroborating reports must therefore be carefully examined, both in terms of their chains of transmission and their value as corroboration. Among those reports is one which he attributed to al-Hilya, from Anas. I did not find it there with this wording. Then I saw that al-Munawi stated that he meant the hadith of Anas: “A steaming bowl was brought to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, so he withdrew his hand from it and said: ‘Allah has not fed us fire.’” He then cited it.

He did not comment at all on its chain of transmission, nor did I find it in al-Bughya fi Tartib Ahadith al-Hilya.

393 — “Eat from its sides and leave its top, and it will be blessed for you.” Then he said: “Take and eat, for by Him in Whose Hand Muhammad’s soul is, the lands of Persia and Rome shall certainly be opened to you, until food becomes abundant and Allah’s Name is no longer mentioned over it.”

Authentic. It was recorded by Abu Bakr al-Shafi‘i in al-Fawa’id (98/1), and from him by Ibn Asakir (8/532/2), al-Bayhaqi (7/283), and al-Diya in al-Mukhtara (11/112/1), from Amr ibn Uthman, who said: My father narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Irq narrated to us; Abdullah ibn Busr said:

I presented a sheep to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, at a time when food was scarce. He said to his household: “Cook this sheep. Take this flour, bake it into bread, cook the meat, and crumble the bread into its broth.”

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, had a large bowl called al-Gharra’, which was carried by four men. When morning came and they performed the Duha prayer, that bowl was brought, and they gathered around it. When the people became numerous, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, knelt down. A Bedouin said, “What kind of sitting is this?” The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, replied: “Allah has made me a noble servant and has not made me an arrogant, obstinate tyrant.” Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said the hadith quoted above.

It was also recorded by Abu Dawud (3773) and Ibn Majah, separately in two places (3263, 3275), but without the words: “Then he said …”