Gardens of the Righteous — Page 112
112. GARDENS OF THE RIGHTEOUS there was a measure of barley and we had a home-reared lamb. I slaughtered the lamb and she prepared the flour for baking. I then cut up the meat and put it in the cooking pot. Then I turned to go to the Holy Prophet and my wife said to me: Do not humiliate me in the eyes of the Holy Prophet and those who are with him. When I came to him I said to him in a low tone: Messenger of. Allah, we have slaughtered a small lamb and have ground a measure of barley. . Please come with a few people. The Holy Prophet thereupon announced in a loud tone: O ye of the moat, Jabir has prepared an entertainment for you, so come along all of you; and addressing me he said: Do not take the pot off the fire, nor bake the dough till I arrive. So I came home and the Holy Prophet came leading the people. My wife said: It will all rebound on you. I said: I have only done what you told me. She brought out the dough and the Holy. Prophet spat into it and blessed it, and then advanced towards the cooking pot and spat into it and blessed it. Then he said: Summon the woman who bakes, and let her bake along with you, and let her ladle out from the cooking pot, but do not take it off the fire. There were altogether a thousand of them. . Verily, all of them ate till they left the food and went off; while our pot still bubbled as before and the dough was being baked as before. 524. Anas relates: Abu Talha said to Umm Sulaim: I have perceived a weakness in the voice of the Holy Prophet in which I have recognised the effect of hunger. Have you, then, anything. She said: Yes; and brought out some pieces of barley bread. Then she took a head-covering of hers and wrapped them up in a portion of it and concealed the parcel under a cloth which she made me wear and sent me off to the Holy Prophet. I took it along and found the Holy Prophet seated in the mosque among people. I stood near them and the Holy Prophet asked me: Have you been sent by Abu Talha? I said: Yes. . He asked: To invite us to a meal? I said: Yes. The Holy Prophet said: Let us go. They began to walk and I walked with them till I came to Abu Talha and told him what had happened. He called out to Umm Sulaim: The Holy. Prophet has come with a large company and we have nothing to feed them with. She said: Allah and His Messenger know best. Abu Talha went and met the Holy Prophet and brought him in. The Holy Prophet said: Bring whatever you have, Umm Sulaim. So she brought the same pieces of bread. He asked them to be broken and then she squeezed the container of butter over them and they were greased. Then the Holy Prophet blessed them and said: Permit ten to come in. Abu Talha called in ten; they ate their fill and went out. Then the Holy Prophet said: Permit ten to come in; they were called, ate and went out. This went on till everyone had eaten his fill. They were seventy or eighty in all (Bokhari and Muslim). . Another version is: When all had eaten, that which was left was collected and it was as much as there was in the beginning. Another version is: After eighty persons had eaten, the Holy Prophet and the people of the house ate and there was a quantity left over. Another version is: Enough was left over to be sent to the neighbours. Another version is: Anas relates: I went to the Holy Prophet