The people of the Suffah were poor folk. The Prophet ﷺ once said, "Whoever has food enough for two should take a third with him, and whoever has food for four should take a fifth or a sixth," or as he said.Abu Bakr brought three guests home, while the Prophet ﷺ took ten. Abu Bakr's three were, as the narrator said, "myself, my father, and my mother." I am not sure whether he also said, "my wife and our servant who moved between our house and Abu Bakr's house."Abu Bakr ate his evening meal with the Prophet ﷺ and stayed there until he had prayed the night prayer. He then returned to the Prophet ﷺ, remained with him until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had eaten his supper, and only came home after as much of the night had passed as Allah willed.His wife said to him, "What kept you from your guests?"He asked, "Have you not given them their supper?"She replied, "They refused until you came. The food was offered to them, but they overcame our efforts."I went off and hid myself. Abu Bakr called out, "You little fool!" He scolded and cursed, then said to the guests, "Eat!" and declared, "By Allah, I will never taste it."By Allah, we would take no morsel without more food rising from beneath it than the morsel itself, until everyone was satisfied and the food had become more than it was before. Abu Bakr looked, and there it was, the same amount or more.He said to his wife, "Sister of Banu Firas, what is this?"She replied, "No, by the coolness of my eyes, it is now three times more than it was before!"So Abu Bakr ate from it and said, "That oath was only from Satan." He then ate one morsel and carried the rest to the Prophet ﷺ, where it remained with him until morning.Now, there had been a treaty between us and a certain people, and when its term ended, we parted into twelve groups, each man with a number of people with him, Allah knows how many were with each man, except that he sent them along. The narrator said they all ate from it, or as he said.Another narrator says, "We were divided up into groups."
حدثنا موسى بن إسماعيل حدثنا معتمر عن أبيه حدثنا أبو عثمان أنه حدثه
أن أصحاب الصفة كانوا أناسا فقراء وأن النبي ﷺ قال مرة من كان عنده طعام اثنين فليذهب بثالث ومن كان عنده طعام أربعة فليذهب بخامس أو سادس أو كما قال وأن أبا بكر جاء بثلاثة وانطلق النبي ﷺ بعشرة وأبو بكر ثلاثة قال فهو أنا وأبي وأمي ولا أدري هل قال امرأتي وخادمي بين بيتنا وبين بيت أبي بكر وأن أبا بكر تعشى عند النبي ﷺ ثم لبث حتى صلى العشاء ثم رجع فلبث حتى تعشى رسول الله ﷺ فجاء بعد ما مضى من الليل ما شاء الله قالت له امرأته ما حبسك عن أضيافك أو ضيفك قال أوعشيتهم قالت أبوا حتى تجيء قد عرضوا عليهم فغلبوهم فذهبت فاختبأت فقال يا غنثر فجدع وسب وقال كلوا وقال لا أطعمه أبدا قال وايم الله ما كنا نأخذ من اللقمة إلا ربا من أسفلها أكثر منها حتى شبعوا وصارت أكثر مما كانت قبل فنظر أبو بكر فإذا شيء أو أكثر قال لامرأته يا أخت بني فراس قالت لا وقرة عيني لهي الآن أكثر مما قبل بثلاث مرات فأكل منها أبو بكر وقال إنما كان الشيطان يعني يمينه ثم أكل منها لقمة ثم حملها إلى النبي ﷺ فأصبحت عنده وكان بيننا وبين قوم عهد فمضى الأجل فتفرقنا اثنا عشر رجلا مع كل رجل منهم أناس الله أعلم كم مع كل رجل غير أنه بعث معهم قال أكلوا منها أجمعون أو كما قال وغيره يقول فعرفنا من العرافة