A man came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: I am weary
Authentic hadithعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: جاء رجلٌ إلى النبيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: إني مجهودٌ، فأرسل إلى بعضِ نسائِه، فقالت: والذي بعثك بالحقِّ ما عندي إلا ماءٌ، ثم أرسل إلى أخرى، فقالت مثلَ ذلك، حتى قُلْنَ كلهن مثلَ ذلك: لا والذي بعثك بالحقِّ ما عندي إلا ماءٌ. فقال النبيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم : "من يُضيفُ هذا الليلةَ؟"، فقال رجلٌ من الأنصار: أنا يا رسولَ اللهِ، فانطلقَ به إلى رحلِه، فقال لامرأته: أكرِمِي ضيف رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم . وفي رواية قال لامرأته: هل عندك شيءٌ؟، فقالت: لا، إلا قوتَ صِبيَاني، قال: فعَلِّليهم بشيءٍ، وإذا أرادوا العشاءَ فنوّمِيهم، وإذا دخلَ ضيفُنا فأطفِئي السِّراجَ، وأرِيهِ أنَّا نَأكلُ، فقعدوا وأكلَ الضيفُ، وباتا طاويين، فلمَّا أصبحَ غدا على النبيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال: "لقد عَجِبَ اللهُ من صَنِيعِكما بضَيفِكما الليلةَ".
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "I am weary." So he sent to one of his wives, but she said: "By the One Who has sent you with the truth, I have nothing (to serve him) but water." He then sent to another one of his wives, and she gave the same reply, until all of them gave the same reply: "By the One who has sent you with the truth, I have nothing but water." Thereupon, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Who will receive that (man) as a guest tonight?" A man from the Ansār said: "O Messenger of Allah, I will." He took him to his house and said to his wife: "Be generous to the guest of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him)." In another narration, he said to his wife: "Do you have anything (to serve the guest)?" She said: "No, nothing but food for my boys." He said: "Distract their attention with something, and when they ask for dinner, put them to bed. When our guest enters, extinguish the lamp and give him the impression that we are eating." So they sat down. The guest had his meal, whereas they went to sleep feeling hungry. When it was morning, he went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) who said: "Allah was well pleased with what you both did for your guest last night."
Explanation
A man came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "I am in hardship owing to need and hunger." So the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) sent to one of his wives who said: "By Allah, I do not have anything except water." He sent to another one, and she said the same. He did that with all of his wives, and the reply was the same from all of them. So the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Who will host that man tonight?" A man from the Ansār said: "I will, O Messenger of Allah." He took him home and said to his wife: "Do you have something we can serve the guest?" She said: "No, only food for the boys." So he said: "Keep them busy with something, and when they want to eat, make them go to sleep." He ordered her to turn off the lamp, and the guest thought that they were eating with him. He ate his fill, while they went to sleep without eating out of honor for the guest of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). When he woke up the next morning and went to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) he informed him that Allah was amazed at what they had done the previous night, and such amazement was a sign of admiration, not disapproval, as Allah, the Almighty, admired what they had done that night.
Source · Narrated by Bukhari & Muslim
From the Hadith Encyclopedia (hadeethenc.com).