Ash-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyah 373

Translation

"Allah’s Messenger ﷺ went out during an hour in which he did not usually go out, and in which no one used to meet him, but Abu Bakr came to him, so he said: “What has brought you forth, O Abu Bakr?” He replied: “I came out to meet Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, behold his face, and greet him with the salutation of peace.” Shortly thereafter "Umar came along, so he said: “What has brought you forth, O 'Umar?” He replied: “Hunger, O Messenger of Allah!” He said ﷺ: “I have also experienced some of that!” Then they went to the house of Ibn at-Tihan al-Ansari, who was owned many date palms and sheep, but who had no servants, so they did not find him. They therefore asked his wife: “Where is your mate?” She said: “He has gone to draw sweet water for us.” They did not have to wait long before Abu’l-Haitham brought a waterskin that he was carrying full, so he set it down, and came to embrace the Prophet ﷺ, offering his father and his mother as ransom for him. Then he took them to his garden, and spread a carpet for them. Then he went to a date palm, brought a bunch of dates and set it down. The Prophet said ﷺ: “Have you not selected for us some of its ripe dates?” He replied: “O Messenger of Allah, I intended to let you choose or prefer some of its ripe and its unripe dates,” so they ate dates and drank from that water. Then the Prophet said ﷺ: “By the One in whose Hand is my soul, this is some of the gracious favor about which you shall be asked on the Day of Resurrection: cool shade, good dates and cold water!” Then Abu’l-Haitham went to make a meal for them, so the Prophet said ﷺ: “Do not slaughter a milch-animal for us.” He therefore slaughtered a young she-goat or a young billy goat, and brought it to them, so they ate. The Prophet said ﷺ: “Do you have a servant?” When the answer was “No,” he said: “If a prisoner of war comes to us, come to us!” Then he ﷺ was brought two captives, unaccompanied by a third. Abu’l-Haitham then came to him, and the Prophet said ﷺ: “Choose from the pair of them,” so he said: “O Messenger of Allah, choose for me!” The Prophet said ﷺ: “The person whose opinion is requested deserves to be trusted. Take this one, for I have seen him performing the ritual prayer, and expect well of him!” Abu l-Haitham then went to his wife and told her what Allah’s Messenger had said, so his wife said: “You cannot arrive at the truth of what the Prophet ﷺ said about him, except by setting him free!” He said: “He is free, then!” The Prophet said ﷺ: “Allah has not sent any Prophet, nor any Caliph, without his having two intimate friends: one who commands him to do what is right and fair, and forbids him to do what is wrong and unfair, and one who will spare no effort to corrupt him. If one is wary of the evil companion, he will be preserved from harm.”

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