Excellent Qualities and Description of the Prophet

Salama b. al-Akwa` told that when a man ate with his left hand in the presence of God's messenger he said, " Eat with your right hand." On his replying, "I am not able," he said, "May you not be able!" for it was simply pride which prevented him. He told that he did not raise it[*] to his mouth [after that]. *i.e., his right hand.Muslim transmitted it.

Anas told that, once when the people of Medina had an alarm the Prophet mounted a slow horse belonging to Abu Talha which took short steps. When he returned, he said, "I found this horse of yours could run like a great river." After that it had none to compete with it. A version says it was never outstripped after that day. Bukhari transmitted it.

My father died in debt and I suggested, to his creditors that they should accept the dates we had in payment of his debt. When they refused, I went to the Prophet and said, "You know that my father died a martyr at the battle of Uhud leaving a large debt, and I would like the creditors to see you." He told me to go and collect all the dates in separate groups, and when I had done so I called him. When they looked at him it seemed as though they were more persistent with me at that time, and when he saw what they were doing he went round the largest group three times, then sitting down beside it he said, "Call your creditors to me." He then kept measuring out to them till God paid on my father's behalf what he owed. I should have been pleased that God should pay my father's debt leaving me not a date to take back to my brothers; but God kept all the groups intact, and when I looked at the group beside which the Prophet was, it seemed as if it had not been diminished by a single date. Bukhari transmitted it.

He told that Umm Malik used to present clarified butter to the Prophet in a skin of hers. Her sons would come to her and ask for seasoning when they had nothing, and she would go to the skin from which she made presents to the Prophet and find clarified butter in it. It kept providing her with seasoning for her household till she squeezed it, so she went to the Prophet who asked whether she had squeezed it, and when she replied that she had, he said, "If you had left it alone it would have kept on as it was." Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Talha told Umm Sulaim[*] he had noticed God's messenger's voice was weak and realised that he was suffering from hunger, so he suggested she might have something. Replying that she had, she brought out some barley loaves, then took out a head-covering of hers in part of which she wrapped the bread, and when she had put it under my arm, she wound part of it round my head and sent me to God's messenger. When I went with it, I found God's messenger in the mosque accompanied by some people. I gave them a salutation and God's messenger asked me if Abu Talha had sent me. I replied that he had, and he asked if he had sent me with food. When I replied that that was so he told the people who were with him to get up. He set off and I went in front of them, and when I came to Abu Talha, I informed him. He said, "God's messenger has come with some people, Umm Sulaim, and we have nothing to give them to eat." When she replied that God and His messenger knew best, he went off till he met God's messenger, who then came accompanied by Abu Talha and said, "Bring what you have, Umm Sulaim." She brought that bread, and he then ordered that the bread be broken into small pieces, and when Umm Sulaim had squeezed a skin and put seasoning on its God's messenger said regarding it what God willed him to say. He then asked permission for ten to enter, and when that was granted, they ate till they had had enough'. When they had gone out, he asked permission for one group of ten after another to enter, and all the people ate and had enough. They numbered seventy or eighty men. *She had married Malik b. an-Nadr to whom she bore Anas. Miltk had gone to Syria, where he died, and she married Abu Talha.(Bukhari and Muslim.) In a version by Muslim he said, "Permit ten to enter," and when they entered, he said, "Eat, mentioning God's name." They ate until he had done that with eighty men, after which the Prophet and the members of the household ate, and he left something over. In a version by Bukhari he said, "Enter by tens," until he had counted forty. Then the Prophet ate, and I began to look whether it had diminished at all. A version by Muslim says he then took what remained and collected it, then invoked a blessing on it, and when it returned to its original state he said, "Take this."

He told that the Prophet was brought a vessel when he was in az-Zaura', and when he put his hand in the vessel the water began to spout between his fingers, and the people performed ablution. Qatada said he asked Anas how many were present, and he replied that there were three hundred, or, about three hundred. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

We used to reckon the signs[*] as a blessing, but you reckon them as something to cause fear. Once when we were on a journey with God's messenger and there was little water he said, "Look if there is any water left." They brought him a vessel containing a little water, and when he had put his hand into it, he said, "Come to the blessed cleansing medium and the blessing from God." I have seen the water spouting between God's messenger's fingers, and we have been hearing the glorifying of God over food when it was being eaten.*i.e., the miracles. Bukhari transmitted it.

God's messenger addressed us saying, "You will travel all evening and all night and come to water to-morrow, if God wills.' The people then set off not turning round to one another. Abu Qatada said: While God's messenger was travelling, when the middle of the night came, he turned aside from the road, laid down his head and said, "Keep watch for us for our time of prayer." Now the first to awake was God's messenger when he felt the sun on his back, and he said "Mount." We did so and travelled till the sun had risen in the sky, when he dismounted, called for an ablution vessel. I had containing some water and performed ablution from it to a less extent than usual. Some water remained in it, and he said, `Keep your ablution vessel for us, for it will be something to talk about. Bilal then gave the call to prayer, and God's messenger prayed two rak`as, after which he prayed the morning prayer. He then mounted and we mounted along with him and reached the people when the day had advanced and everything was hot. They were saying, "Messenger of God, we are perishing from thirst," to which he replied, "You will not perish." He called for the ablution vessel, began to pour out water, and Abu Qatada[*] was supplying them with water. No sooner did the people see that there was water in the ablution vessel then they crowded around it, so God's messenger said, "Behave in an orderly manner, for every one of you will get a supply of water." They did so, and God's messenger began to pour and I to supply them with water till only he and I were left. He then poured and told me to drink, but I replied, "I shall not drink till you do so, messenger of God." He said, "The one who supplies water for people comes last," so I drank and then he drank. Then the people came to the watering-place in comfort, having had a supply of water.*I have retained the Arabic construction here. Abu Qatada is telling the story and elsewhere uses the first-person pronoun when making reference to himself,Muslim transmitted it thus in his Sahih, and it is told similarly in al-Humaidi's book and in Jami' al-usul. In al-Masabih the words "in drinking" are added after "comes last."

On the day of the expedition of Tabuk the people were afflicted by hunger, and `Umar said, "Messenger of God, tell them to bring what is left over of their provisions and pray God for a blessing for them on them." He agreed, then called for a leather cloth and it was spread out. He then called for the provisions which were left, and one brought a handful of millet, another a handful of dates, another crumbs until a small quantity was collected on the leather cloth. God's messenger then prayed for a blessing, after which he said, "Take a supply in your receptacles." They did so until they did not leave a receptacle in the army which they did not fill. They then ate till they were satisfied, and there was something over. God's messenger then said, "I testify that there is no god but God and that I am God's messenger. No one who meets God and affirms the two testimonies without harbouring any doubts will not be kept away from paradise." Muslim transmitted it.

When the Prophet was newly married to Zainab, my mother Umm Sulaim took some dates, clarified butter and curd, and made hais[1]. When she had prepared it in a cooking-pot she said, "Take this to God's messenger, Anas, say your mother has sent this to him along with her good wishes, and tell him this is a small gift to him from us." When I had gone and repeated this, he told me to put it down, then said, "Go and invite so and so, so and so, and so and so (naming some men) to come to me, and invite those whom you meet to come to me." I invited those he named and those I met, and when I returned the house was crowded with people[2]. (Anas was asked how many there were and replied that there were about three hundred.) I saw the Prophet put his hand on that bit of hais and say such words as God wished. He then began to invite them to eat in groups of ten, and he was saying to them, "Mention God's name, and let each man eat from the place nearest him." When they had eaten to their satisfaction one party went out and another entered till they had all eaten. He told me to remove the food and I did so, and I do not know whether there was more of it when I set it down or when I removed it. Hais (special dish prepared from dried yoghourt, butter and dates). This is what the Arabic says, but in view of what follows about the people being admitted in tens, it probably means that the house was surrounded by a great throng.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

I went on an expedition with God's messenger on a camel used for drawing water which had grown weary and could scarcely go on. The Prophet came up beside me and asked what was the matter with my camel, and when I told him it had grown weary, he went behind it and urged it on. He then made supplication for it and it kept going in front of the other camels. He asked me how I found my camel and I replied that it was fine, having received the benefit of his blessing. He asked if I would sell it to him for a wuqiya, and I agreed on condition that I might ride it till we came to Medina. When God's messenger came to Medina I took the camel to him in the morning, and he gave me its price, then returned the animal to me. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

We went out with God's messenger on the expedition to Tabuk, and in the wadi al-Qura we came to a garden belonging to a woman. God's messenger told us to estimate its amount and we did so, and God's messenger estimated it at ten camel loads. He told the woman to calculate the amount and have it ready for our return should God will, and then we set off. When we came to Tabuk God's messenger said, "You will have a violent wind to-night, so no one must get up while it is blowing and those who have camels must hobble them firmly." A violent wind blew, and a man got up and was carried by the wind and thrown on the two mountains of Tayy[*]. We then went on till we came to the wadi al-Qura., and when God's messenger asked the woman how much the fruit in her garden had amounted to, she replied that it was ten camel loads. *Aia' and Salma.(Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Dharr reported God's messenger as saying, "You will conquer Egypt, which is a land in which the qirat is mentioned. When you conquer it treat its inhabitants well, for protection and blood-relationship apply to them (or he said, protection and marriage relationship)[1]. But when you see two men quarrelling in a brickwork leave[2] it." Abu Dharr said he saw `Abd ar-Rahman b. Shurahbil b. Hasana and his brother Rabi'a quarrelling in a brickwork, and so left it. 1. The reference is to Abraham's son Ishmael having Hagar as mother, and to Mariya the Copt who was sent to the Prophet. 2. 'You' in this sentence and the preceding one is plural, but `leave' is singular, addressed particularly to Abu Dharr.Muslim transmitted it.

Hudhaifa reported the Prophet as saying, "Among my companions (a version has, my people) there will be twelve hypocrites who will neither enter paradise nor experience its odour till a camel goes through a needle's eye. Eight of them will be repelled by an internal ulcer (a burning, fiery wick) which will appear on their shoulders and extend into their breasts." Muslim transmitted it.

this is the messenger of the Lord of the universe whom God is commissioning as a mercy to the universe." Some shaikhs of Quraish asked him how he knew, and he replied, "When you came over the hill not a tree or a stone failed to bow in prostration, and they prostrate themselves only before a prophet. I recognise him by the seal of prophecy, like an apple, below the end of his shoulder-blade." He then went and prepared food for them, and when he brought it to them the Prophet was looking after the camels, so he told them to send for him. He came with a cloud above him shading him, and when he approached the people, he found they had gone before him into the shade of a tree. Then when he sat down the shade of the tree inclined over him, and the monk said, "Look how the shade of the tree has inclined over him. I adjure you by God to tell me which of you is his guardian." On being told that it was Abu Talib he kept adjuring him to send him back until he did so. Abu Bakr sent Bilal along with him and the monk gave him provision of coarse bread and olive-oil. Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Once when I was with the Prophet in Mecca and we went out into one of its districts in the neighbourhood, not a mountain or tree which confronted him failed to say, "Peace be upon you, messenger of God." Tirmidhi and Darimi transmitted it.

Anas told that on the night when the Prophet was taken up to heaven al-Buraq was brought to him bridled and saddled, but it proved refractory, so Gabriel said to it, "Is it to Muhammad you are doing this? No one more honourable in God's sight than he has mounted you." It then poured with sweat. Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a gharib tradition.

Buraida reported God's messenger as saying, "When I came to Jerusalem Gabriel made a sign with his finger, making with it a hole in the stone, and tied al-Buraq to it." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

There are three things I saw relating to God's messenger. While we were travelling with him, we passed a camel being used for irrigation, and when the camel saw him, it rumbled and bent down its neck. The Prophet stopped beside it and asked where the owner of that camel was, and when he came, he asked him to sell it to him. He replied, "No, I shall not give it to you, messenger of God, it belongs to a family which has no other means of livelihood." He said, "Since you have mentioned this about it, note that it has complained to me of a great amount of work and a small amount of fodder; so, treat it well[*]." We then travelled on, and when we came to a stage and the Prophet had lain down to sleep a tree came cleaving the earth till it overshadowed him and then returned to its place. When God's messenger awoke, I mentioned the m atter to him and he said, "It is a tree which asked its Lord's permission to give a salutation to God's messenger, and He allowed it." We then travelled on, and when we passed a watering-place a woman brought a son of hers who was possessed, and the Prophet seized his nostril and said, "Come out, for I am Muhammad, God's messenger." We then travelled on, and when we passed that watering-place on the way back he asked the woman about the boy and she said, "I swear by Him who commissioned you with the truth that we have seen nothing in him to disturb us since you left." *The Prophet evidently had no desire to take the camel either by payment or as a gift, since it was the man's only means of earning a livelihood. He therefore left him with an exhortation to treat the camel properly.It is transmitted in Sharh as-sunna.

Ibn `Abbas told that a woman brought a son of hers to God's messenger and said, "Messenger of God, my son is possessed, and it seizes him when we have our morning and evening meals." God's messenger stroked his breast and made a supplication, and when the boy had vomited once, something like a black puppy came running out from within him. Darimi transmitted it.