فضائل الأعمال الصالحة
‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: A poor woman came to me carrying her two daughters. So I gave her three dates to eat, and she gave one to each of her daughters. She then lifted a date to her mouth to eat it, but her daughters asked for it, so she split the date between the two of them. Her action amazed me. I mentioned what she did to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and he said: "Because of it, Allah either admitted her to Paradise or freed her from Hell."
عن عائشة -رضي الله عنها- قالت: جَاءَتنِي مِسْكِينَة تَحمِل ابنَتَين لها، فَأَطْعَمْتُها ثَلاثَ تَمَرَات، فَأَعْطَت كُلَّ وَاحِدَة مِنْهُما تَمْرَة وَرَفَعت إِلَى فِيهَا تَمْرَة لِتَأكُلَها، فَاسْتَطْعَمَتْها ابْنَتَاهَا، فَشَقَّت التَّمْرَة التي كانت تريد أن تَأْكُلَها بينهما، فَأَعْجَبَنِي شَأْنُهَا، فَذَكَرت الذي صَنَعَتْ لرسول الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم- فقال: «إِنَّ الله قَدْ أَوجَبَ لَهَا بِهَا الجَنَّة، أَو أَعْتَقَهَا بِهَا مِنَ النَّار».
شرح الحديث :
The Hadīth of ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) depicts another spectacle of compassion from the elderly towards the young. She said: "A poor woman came to me carrying her two daughters, and I gave her three dates to eat." As soon as the woman gave each of her daughters a date to eat and started to eat hers, the two daughters looked longingly at the date that the mother had lifted to her mouth. The mother did not eat it; instead, she split it in half and fed each daughter a half of the date, while she ate nothing. So ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) mentioned that to the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). He then informed her: "Because of this, Allah either admitted her to Paradise or freed her from Hell." Because she displayed such magnificent compassion towards them, Allah admitted her to Paradise.