Dates were brought to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ began distributing them while crouched, eating from them rapidly. In another narration, eating from them hurriedly.
أتي رسول الله ﷺ بتمر، فجعل النبي ﷺ يقسمه وهو محتفز، يأكل منه أكلا ذريعا، وفي رواية: أكلا حثيثا.
It was narrated by Muslim in the Book of Drinks (2044:149) through the chain of Sufyan bin Uyayna, from Musab bin Sulaym, from Anas, as mentioned.Regarding his word "muhtafiz," Nawawi said in his commentary on Sahih Muslim (13/226), "It is with a zay, meaning hurried, in a state of urgency, not settled comfortably in his sitting. It carries the same meaning as his word 'muqian,' and this is also the meaning of his statement ﷺ in the other hadith found in Sahih Bukhari and elsewhere, 'I do not eat while reclining,' contrary to how Imam Khattabi explained it. For he said that reclining here means being settled comfortably in one's sitting, whether cross-legged or in a similar posture, resting upon cushioning placed beneath oneself. He said, whoever sits comfortably upon such cushioning is considered reclining. Its meaning is, I do not eat the way one eats who wants to consume a great deal of food and settles down comfortably for it. Rather, I sit in a hurried manner and eat only a little."As for his words "quickly and hastily," they carry the same meaning, that is, hurriedly, ﷺ because of his urgency to attend to another matter. So he would hasten in eating, and his haste was in order to satisfy his need from it and stave off hunger, then go on to that other matter." End of quote.