A man came to the Prophet ﷺ, who sent word to his wives, and they said, "We have nothing but water."So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, "Who will take this man in as a guest?"A man from the Ansar said, "I will."He took the guest home and said to his wife, "Honor the guest of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."She said, "We have nothing but the children's food."He said, "Get your food ready, light your lamp, and put the children to bed when they ask for supper."So she prepared her food, lit her lamp, and put her children to sleep. Then she got up as though she were adjusting the lamp and put it out. The two of them kept making it appear to the guest that they were eating, and they spent the night with empty stomachs.In the morning the host went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said, "Allah laughed last night," or "marveled, at what the two of you did."Then Allah revealed, "and they give preference over themselves, even though they are in need. And whoever is protected from the miserliness of his own soul, those are the successful ones" [Hashr 59:9].
أن رجلا أتى النبي ﷺ، فبعث إلى نسائه، فقلن: ما معنا إلا الماء، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: من يضم أو يضيف هذا؟ فقال رجل من الأنصار: أنا، فانطلق به إلى إمرأته، فقال: أكرمي ضيف رسول الله ﷺ، فقالت: ماعندنا إلا قوت صبياني، فقال: هيئي طعامك، وأصبحي سراجك، ونومي صبيانك، إذا أرادوا عشاء، فهيأت طعامها، وأصبحت سراجها، ونومت صبيانها، ثم قامت كأنها تصلح سراجها فأطفأته، فجعلا يريانه أنهما يأكلان، فباتا طاويين، فلما أصبح غدا إلى رسول الله ﷺ فقال: ضحك الله الليلة، أو عجب، من فعالكما. فأنزل الله: {ويؤثرون على أنفسهم ولو كان بهم خصاصة ومن يوق شح نفسه فأوليك هم المفلحون}. [سورة الحشر: ٩].
Bukhari related it in the Virtues of the Ansar (3798), and Muslim in the Book of Drinks (2054-172), both through the route of Fudayl bin Ghazwan, from Abu Hazim Ashjai, from Abu Hurairah, and he narrated it. This is the wording of Bukhari, and the wording of Muslim is similar to it, containing, "Who will host this man tonight, may Allah have mercy on him," and it also contains, "Distract them with something" in place of "put your children to sleep." In another wording, "He had nothing except his own provision and the provision of his children," adding the word "his own provision."Muslim related it (2054-173) from Abu Kurayb Muhammad bin Ala, who said, Waki narrated to us, from Fudayl bin Ghazwan, with the same chain. In another wording, "A man from the Ansar stood up, called Abu Talha." Muslim related it (2504-173) from Abu Kurayb, who said, Ibn Fudayl narrated to us, from his father, from Abu Hazim, with the same chain.