English Translation

Hashim ibn al-Qasim narrated to us, Sulayman -- meaning Ibn al-Mughira -- narrated to us from Thabit from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Layla from al-Miqdad who said: I and two companions of mine came, our hearing and sight having nearly failed from exhaustion. He said: We began presenting ourselves to the Companions of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, but no one accepted us. He said: So we went to the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and he took us to his household, where there were three goats. The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Milk this milk among us." He said: So we would milk it, and each person would drink his share, and we would set aside for the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, his share. He would come at night and give a greeting that would not wake a sleeper but would be heard by one awake, then he would go to the mosque and pray, then come to his drink and drink it. He said: Then one night Satan came to me and said, "Muhammad goes to the Ansar and they honor him with gifts, and he gets from them what he needs, so he has no need of this portion -- drink it." He said: He kept enticing me until I drank it. When it had settled in my stomach, and he knew there was no way to undo it, he said: He made me regret it, saying, "Woe to you, what have you done! You have drunk Muhammad's drink; he will come and not find it, and he will invoke a curse upon you, and you will perish, and you will lose both your worldly life and your afterlife." He said: And I had upon me a woolen wrap; whenever I pulled it up over my head, my feet would show, and when I let it down over my feet, my head would show. And sleep would not come to me. He said: As for my two companions, they slept. Then the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, came and gave the greeting as he used to, then went to the mosque and prayed, then came to his drink and uncovered it, and found nothing in it. He raised his head to the sky. I said [to myself], "Now he will invoke a curse on me and I will perish." But he said, "O God, feed whoever has fed me, and give drink to whoever has given me drink." He said: So I went to the wrap and tied it around myself, and took the knife, and went to the goats, feeling them to see which was fattest, so that I could slaughter it for the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him. But I found them all full [of milk]. So I went to a vessel belonging to the household of Muhammad that they never hoped to milk into -- and Abu al-Nadr said another time: "that they never hoped to milk into it" -- and I milked into it until the froth rose over it. Then I brought it to the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and he said, "Did you not drink your drink tonight, O Miqdad?" I said, "Drink, O Messenger of God." So he drank, then handed it to me, and I said, "O Messenger of God, drink." So he drank, then handed it to me, and I took what remained and drank. When I realized that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, had been satisfied and that his supplication had reached me, I laughed until I fell to the ground. The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "One of your mischiefs, O Miqdad?" I said, "O Messenger of God, this is what happened to me, this is what I did." The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "This was nothing but a mercy from God. Would that you had told me, so we could wake these two companions of yours, that they might partake of it too." I said, "By Him who sent you with the truth, I do not care -- as long as you and I received it -- who among the people missed it."