The Prophet ﷺ was brought a bowl of tharid and said, "Eat from its sides and do not eat from its center, for blessing descends in its center."In another wording, "When one of you eats food, let him not eat from the top of the dish, but let him eat from its lower part, for blessing descends from its top."
أن النبي ﷺ أتي بقصعة من ثريد فقال: كلوا من حولها، ولا تأكلوا من وسطها؛ فإن البركة تنزل في وسطها. وفي لفظ: إذا أكل أحدكم طعاما فلا يأكل من أعلى الصحفة، ولكن ليأكل من أسفلها، فإن البركة تنزل من أعلاها.
Abu Dawud (3772) and Ahmad (3190) both narrated it through the route of Shubah, Tirmidhi (1805) through the route of Jareer bin Abdul-Hameed, Ibn Majah (3277) through the route of Muhammad bin Fudayl, and Ahmad (2439, 3214) through the route of Sufyan Thawri, all of them from Ata bin Saaib, from Saeed bin Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas, who related it. The first wording is found with Imam Ahmad and others, and the second wording is found with Abu Dawud.Its chain of transmission is sahih. Ata bin Saaib is trustworthy, the leading scholars affirmed his reliability, except that his memory became confused toward the end of his life. However, the narrations of Shubah and Thawri from him predate that confusion.Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan sahih hadith, and it is known only through the hadith of Ata bin Saaib. Shubah and Thawri narrated it from Ata bin Saaib." This points to the fact that Shubah and Thawri heard from him early on.Hakim said, "This is a hadith with a sahih chain of transmission."As for his statement, "from the top of the plate," it means from its middle, since the best part of the food on the plate is in its middle.