Hadith No: 5
Al-Qurtubi - al-Jami' li-Ahkami al-Quran
Surah al-Insan - His statement, Mighty and Majestic be He: {They fulfill [their] vow and fear a day whose evil will be widespread.}
Volume: (19) - Page Number: (116 / 119)
[The text is lengthy, so only the relevant excerpt is provided here]
- .... And in the narration of al-Ja'fi: Then the maidservant stood up and went to a sa' of barley, from which she baked five loaves, one for each of them. When their first fast was complete, bread, salt, and dry broth were placed before them when a poor man
stood at the door and said: Peace be upon you, O people of the House of Muhammad.- in the narration of al-Ja'fi - "I am a poor man from the poor of the nation of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), and by God, I am hungry. Feed me, and God will feed you from the tables of Paradise." Ali (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) heard him and began to say:
"O Fatimah, possessor of virtue and certainty, daughter of the best of people, all together.
Do you not see the miserable, needy one standing at the door, filled with yearning,
complaining to God and humbled, complaining to us, hungry and sorrowful?
Every person is bound by their own actions, and the doer of good deeds will be made clear.
Our meeting place is the Garden of Aliyyin, which God has forbidden to the miserly.
For the stingy, there is a humiliating stance, to be cast down by the fire into Sijjin.
His drink will be boiling water and the filth, and whoever does good will find himself well-fed,
and will enter Paradise at any time."
Then Fatimah (peace be upon her and her holy progeny) began to say:
"Your command is, O cousin, obedience to me; there is no meanness or baseness in me.
I will prepare bread for him, feed him, and I will not mind the hour.
I hope that if I satisfy this one in need, I will join the righteous and the gathered."
"And you will have intercession for me in Paradise."
So they fed him food, and they remained that day and night without tasting anything except pure water. When the second day came, she stood up to a sa', ground it, and baked it, and Ali prayed with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) and then came home, placing the food before them. Then an orphan stood at the door and said: "Peace be upon you, O people of the House of Muhammad. An orphan from the children of the emigrants, whose father was martyred on the day of Uhud. Feed me, and God will feed you from the tables of Paradise." Ali heard him and began to say:
"O Fatimah, daughter of the noble lord, daughter of a prophet, not given to baseness.
God has come to the one with the orphan; whoever shows mercy today will be shown mercy.
And he will enter Paradise, sound and whole, for God has forbidden eternity to the miser.
Will he not cross the straight path, stumbling in the fire to the pit?
His drink will be the dregs and boiling water."
Then Fatimah (peace be upon her and her holy progeny) began to say:
"I will feed him today and do not care, and I will prefer God over my children.
They went to bed hungry, and they are my nursing babies; the youngest of them will be killed in battle,
In Karbala, he will be killed by treachery. Woe to the killer, with great burden!
The fire will cast him down to humiliation, and in his hands will be chains and shackles,
A weight that exceeds all bounds."
So they fed him food, and they remained for two days and two nights without tasting anything except pure water. When the third day came, she went to the remaining sa', ground it, and baked it, prayed with Ali and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), and then came to the house, placing the food before them. Suddenly, they were met by a captive standing at the door, who said: "Peace be upon you, O people of the House of Muhammad. You capture us and bind us, yet do not feed us. Feed me, for I am a captive of Muhammad." Ali heard him and began to say:
"O Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet Ahmad, daughter of the prophet, lord of the honored.
God named him, and he is Muhammad, adorned by God with a handsome form.
This is a captive of the guided Prophet, weighed down by shackles, confined.
He complains to us of hunger, having lain down; whoever feeds today will find it tomorrow,
With the Almighty, the One, the Unifier. What the sower plants, he will surely harvest.
Give to him; do not make him sit."
Then Fatimah (peace be upon her and her holy progeny) said:
"Nothing remains of what has come except a sa'; my hands have emptied with my arms.
My sons, by God, are hungry; O Lord, do not leave them to perish.
Their father is one inclined to good, showing kindness through original acts.
He has strong arms and a mighty reach, and there is nothing on my head but a veil,
Except a veil woven from narrow cloth."
So they gave him food, and they remained for three days and nights without tasting anything except pure water. When the fourth day came, Allah willed to fulfill the vow. He took the right hand of Hasan and the left hand of Husayn and approached the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), who were trembling like chicks from extreme hunger. When he saw them, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said: "O Abu al-Hasan, how severe is what I see distressing about you!" "Let us go to my daughter Fatimah." So they went to her, and she was in her prayer niche, her belly pressed to her back, and her eyes sunken from severe hunger. When the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) saw her and recognized the signs of deprivation on her face, he wept and said: "Woe to me! O Allah, the family of Muhammad are dying of hunger!" Then Gabriel (peace be upon him) descended and said: "Peace be upon you. Your Lord sends you greetings of peace, O Muhammad. Take this as a gift for you and your family." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) asked: "What should I take, O Gabriel?" So he was given the revelation: {Has there [not] come upon man a time when he was nothing to be mentioned? (Surah al-Insan 76:1)} to his statement: {And they give food in spite of [their] desire for it to the needy, the orphan, and the captive, [saying], "We feed you only for the sake of Allah. We do not want from you or reward or gratitude." (Surah al-Insan 76:8-9)} Al-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim Abu Abdullah in al-Nawadir al-Usool, said: "This is a fabricated and counterfeit hadith. Its narrator has gone to extremes until it resembles the truth to the listeners, for the ignorant of this hadith may bite their lips in regret at its absence, not knowing that the one who performs this act is blameworthy...."