English Translation

Yahya b. Sa'id told us, from Abd al-Hamid — that is, Abu Ja'far — saying: Salih b. Abi Uraib told me, from Kathir b. Murrah al-Hadrami, from Awf b. Malik al-Ashja'i, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to us, or entered, while we were in the mosque, with a staff in his hand, and a man had hung up clusters of shriveled dates. He struck that cluster with the staff, then said, "If the owner of this charity had wished, he could have given better than this in charity; indeed the owner of this charity eats shriveled dates on the Day of Resurrection."