Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 2446
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ عَبْدِ الأَعْلَى الصَّنْعَانِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا الْمُعْتَمِرُ بْنُ سُلَيْمَانَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ حَنَشٍ، عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، قَالَ أَصَابَ نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم خَصَاصَةٌ فَبَلَغَ ذَلِكَ عَلِيًّا فَخَرَجَ يَلْتَمِسُ عَمَلاً يُصِيبُ فِيهِ شَيْئًا لِيُغِيثَ بِهِ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَتَى بُسْتَانًا لِرَجُلٍ مِنَ الْيَهُودِ فَاسْتَقَى لَهُ سَبْعَةَ عَشَرَ دَلْوًا كُلُّ دَلْوٍ بِتَمْرَةٍ فَخَيَّرَهُ الْيَهُودِيُّ مِنْ تَمْرِهِ سَبْعَ عَشَرَةَ عَجْوَةً فَجَاءَ بِهَا إِلَى نَبِيِّ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Ala al-Sanani narrated to us: al-Mutamir ibn Sulayman narrated to us, from his father, from Hanash, from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbas, who said: The Prophet of Allah ﷺ was in need, and news of this reached Ali. He went out seeking work from which he could earn something to help the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He came to a garden belonging to a Jewish man and drew water for him from seventeen buckets, each bucket in exchange for one date. The man let him choose seventeen ajwah dates from his dates, and Ali brought them to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says Ali was given a choice of seventeen ajwah dates; ajwah is retained as the named date variety. The unit is one date for each bucket of water.