I came to Madinah without knowing anyone there, so I lodged in the Suffah with another man. Each day the two of us shared a single mudd of dates between us.One day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led the prayer, and when he finished, a man from the people of the Suffah said, "Messenger of Allah, the dates have burned our stomachs, and our coarse garments have worn through on us."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then ascended the pulpit and delivered a sermon, saying, "By Allah, had I found bread or meat, I would have fed it to you. But you are about to reach a time, and whoever among you reaches it, when great bowls of food will be brought to you morning and evening, and you will wear garments like the coverings of the Kaabah."He said, my companion and I remained for eighteen days and nights with no food except the fruit of the arak tree, until we came to our brothers among the Ansar, who shared with us generously, and the best of what we received was these dates.
قال حدثنا عبد الصمد بن عبد الوارث قال حدثني أبي حدثنا داود يعني ابن أبي هند عن أبي حرب أن
أتيت المدينة وليس لي بها معرفة فنزلت في الصفة مع رجل فكان بيني وبينه كل يوم مد من تمر فصلى رسول الله ﷺ ذات يوم فلما انصرف قال رجل من أصحاب الصفة يا رسول الله أحرق بطوننا التمر وتخرقت عنا الخنف فصعد رسول الله ﷺ فخطب ثم قال والله لو وجدت خبزا أو لحما لأطعمتكموه أما إنكم توشكون أن تدركوا ومن أدرك ذلك منكم أن يراح عليكم بالجفان وتلبسون مثل أستار الكعبة قال فمكثت أنا وصاحبي ثمانية عشر يوما وليلة ما لنا طعام إلا البرير حتى جئنا إلى إخواننا من الأنصار فواسونا وكان خير ما أصبنا هذا التمر
Its isnad is sahih. Abu Harb is Ibn Abu Aswad Deeli Basri, a trustworthy, excellent reciter. The hadith was narrated by Tabarani in Al-Kabir 8/371, no. 8160, from Talha bin Amr, and Hakim graded it sahih in 4/549, and Dhahabi agreed with him, and Ibn Hibban 630, no. 2539, and Haythami attributed it in 10/322 to Tabarani and Bazzar, but did not attribute it to Ahmad or grade it sahih.