The people of the Suffah were poor folk. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ once said, "Whoever has food enough for two, let him take a third along. Whoever has food enough for four, let him take a fifth or a sixth," or as he said.Abu Bakr brought three, while the Prophet of Allah ﷺ took ten with him, and Abu Bakr took three.He said, that is myself, my father, and my mother. I do not know whether he also said, my wife and a servant who served between our house and Abu Bakr's house.Abu Bakr ate dinner at the house of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then stayed there until the night prayer was performed. He went back to the Prophet ﷺ and remained with him until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ grew drowsy, and Abu Bakr returned home after a portion of the night had passed, as Allah willed.His wife said to him, "What kept you from your guests?" Or she said, "your guest?"He asked, "Have you not given them their dinner?"She replied, "They refused until you came. The food was offered to them, but they would not accept."He said, I went off and hid myself.Abu Bakr called out, "You fool!" Or, "You scoundrel!" He cursed and rebuked, then said, "Eat. May it bring you no joy." He swore, "By Allah, I will never eat it."The guest also swore that he would not eat it until Abu Bakr ate.Abu Bakr said, "This is from Satan." He called for the food and ate.By Allah, we did not take a single morsel except that more grew up beneath it than the morsel itself, until they were full, and the food became more than it had been before. Abu Bakr looked at it, and there it was, as it had been, or even more.He said to his wife, "Sister of Banu Firas, what is this?"She answered, "No, by the delight of my eye, it is now three times more than it was before."Abu Bakr ate from it and said, "That oath was only from Satan," meaning his vow not to eat. Then he ate a morsel, carried the rest to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and it remained with him until morning.There was an agreement between us and a certain people, and the term had ended. We were placed in charge of twelve men, with each man having a group of people with him. Allah knows how many were with each man, except that he sent them along, and they all ate from that food, or as he said.
حدثنا عارم حدثنا معتمر بن سليمان عن أبيه حدثنا أبو عثمان أنه حدثه
أن أصحاب الصفة كانوا أناسا فقراء وأن رسول الله ﷺ قال مرة من كان عنده طعام اثنين فليذهب بثالث من كان عنده طعام أربعة فليذهب بخامس بسادس أو كما قال وأن أبا بكر جاء بثلاثة فانطلق نبي الله ﷺ بعشرة وأبو بكر بثلاثة قال فهو أنا وأبي وأمي ولا أدري هل قال وامرأتي وخادم بين بيتنا وبيت أبي بكر وإن أبا بكر تعشى عند رسول الله ﷺ ثم لبث حتى صليت العشاء ثم رجع فلبث حتى نعس رسول الله ﷺ فجاء بعدما مضى من الليل ما شاء الله قالت له امرأته ما حبسك عن أضيافك أو قالت ضيفك قال أوما عشيتهم قالت أبوا حتى تجيء قد عرضوا عليهم فغلبوهم قال فذهبت أنا فاختبأت قال يا غنثر أو يا عنتر فجدع وسب وقال كلوا لا هنيا وقال والله لا أطعمه أبدا قال وحلف الضيف أن لا يطعمه حتى يطعمه أبو بكر قال فقال أبو بكر هذه من الشيطان قال فدعا بالطعام فأكل قال فايم الله ما كنا نأخذ من لقمة إلا ربا من أسفلها أكثر منها قال حتى شبعوا وصارت أكثر مما كانت قبل ذلك فنظر إليها أبو بكر فإذا هي كما هي أو أكثر فقال لامرأته يا أخت بني فراس ما هذا قالت لا وقرة عيني لهي الآن أكثر منها قبل ذلك بثلاث مرار فأكل منها أبو بكر وقال إنما كان ذلك من الشيطان يعني يمينه ثم أكل لقمة ثم حملها إلى رسول الله ﷺ فأصبحت عنده قال وكان بيننا وبين قوم عقد فمضى الأجل فعرفنا اثني عشر رجلا مع كل رجل أناس الله أعلم كم مع كل رجل غير أنه بعث معهم فأكلوا منها أجمعون أو كما قال
Its isnad is sahih. It is a longer version of 1702 and 1704.Muslim narrated it at length, 2/146-147, through Mutamir from his father, and he also narrated it through Jareeri from Abu Uthman. See Nawawi's commentary, 14/17-22. Abu Dawud narrated it, 3/242-243, through Jareeri, and Bukhari also narrated it, as noted in Dhakhair Mawarith, 5035.In K, and in Muslim, it reads "he set off" instead of "so he set off.""Ya ghunthar" or "ya antar", the two words are written in a very similar form in H, but what appears in Sahih Muslim is only "ya ghunthar." Nawawi vowelled it with a dotted ghayn carrying damma, then a silent nun, then a thaa with either fatha or damma, both being valid forms. This is the well known reading of it. They said it means the heavy, sluggish person, and it was also said to mean the ignorant one, derived from ghatharah, with fatha on the dotted ghayn, meaning ignorance, the nun being an extra letter.He then said that Khattabi and a group of others narrated it as "antar," with an undotted ayn and a two dotted taa, both carrying fatha. They said it means the fly, and some said specifically the blue fly, likening him to it in order to belittle him. Something similar appears in Nihayah, which adds that it was also said to mean the large blue fly, likening him to it because of how much harm it causes.As for "fa-jaddaa," with a doubled dal carrying fatha, Ibn Athir said it means he disputed with him and rebuked him, and that mujadaah means dispute. In Lisan al-Arab it says, "jadaahu mujadaatan wa jidaaan" means he cursed him and quarreled with him, as if each of the two had cut off the other's nose.Nawawi said that "fa-jaddaa" means he invoked the curse of jada upon him, jada being the cutting off of the nose or other body parts. This is the more accurate and closer reading, for jadaa is different from jaadaa. This is supported by what is found in Lisan al-Arab, that in cursing a person one says "jadaan lahu wa aqran," putting the words in the accusative in the manner used for curses, with the governing verb implied and not actually spoken. Sibawayh reported "jadaatuhu tajdiaan wa aqartuhu" to mean "I said that to him." This is an explicit statement.Regarding "thumma akala luqmatan" (then he ate a morsel), in K, and in Muslim, it reads "thumma akala minha luqmatan" (then he ate a morsel from it).As for "fa-arrafna ithnay ashara rajulan," Nawawi said that this is how it appears in most manuscripts, meaning the manuscripts of Sahih Muslim, "fa-arrafna," with ayn and a doubled raa, meaning we appointed them as urafaa (chiefs). In many other manuscripts it reads "fa-farraqna," with a repeated faa at the start and a qaf, from tafriq (division), meaning each of the twelve men was placed in charge of a group. Both readings are sahih. Al-arif means the chief, a rank below that of the leader.As for "baatha maahum" (he sent along with them), in H it reads "minhum" (from among them).As for "aw kama qala" (or as he said), in H it reads "kama qeela" (as was said). We corrected both instances based on K and Sahih Muslim.