Life of Muhammad — Page 200
sa 200 meaning and passed on. Ab u Huraira ra when relating this incident used to say with indignation that he too understood the Qur’an as well as Ab u Bakr ra did. His object in asking the latter to explain the meaning of the verse had been that Ab u Bakr ra might guess that he was hungry and might arrange to get food for him. Shortly after, ‘ Umar ra passed by and Ab u Huraira ra asked him also to explain the meaning of the verse. ‘ Umar ra also explained its meaning and passed on. Ab u Huraira ra , like all Companions of the Holy Prophet sa , was loath to make a direct request and when he perceived that his indirect attempts to draw attention to his condition had failed, he began to feel very faint. Thereupon he heard his name being called in a very soft and tender voice. Looking to the side from which the voice came he saw that the Holy Prophet sa was looking out from the window of his house and was smiling. He inquired of Ab u Huraira ra : "Are you hungry?" to which Ab u Huraira ra replied: "Verily, O Messenger of Allah sa ! I am hungry. " The Holy Prophet sa said: "There is no food in our house either, but somebody has just sent us a cup of milk. Go to the mosque and see whether there are any other persons there who may be hungry like you. " Ab u Huraira ra goes on to relate: "I thought to myself, I am hungry enough to consume the whole of the milk in the cup, yet the Prophet sa has asked me to invite any other persons that may be in a similar situation, which means that I shall get very little of the milk. But I had to carry out the Prophet's sa orders, so I went into the mosque and found six persons sitting there whom I brought with me to the Prophet's sa door. He gave the cup of milk into the hands of one of them and asked him to drink. When he had finished and put away the cup from his mouth the Prophet sa insisted upon his drinking a second time and a third time till he had had his fill. In the same way he insisted upon every one of the six drinking his fill of the milk. Each time he asked anyone to drink I was afraid that little would be left for me. After all the six had drunk of the milk the Prophet sa gave the cup to me