Most of the rooms were built from the branches of date palms, while some of them were built from unbaked bricks. The doorways were covered with rough hessian or thick cloth. These structures were not even rooms. They were examples of their asceticism and contentment, and they were an illustration of the transitory nature of the dunya.

Although lanterns were seldom lit at night within these homes, there was really no need for any other source of illumination. What is the need for a lantern or candle in a home wherein resides the one inviting to Allah Ta‘ala, the Basheer, the Nazeer, and the Siraaj-e-Muneer (i.e. the bearer of the glad tidings of Jannah, the warner of the torment of Jahannum, and the one who was illuminated like the illuminating lantern)? How aptly a poet describes it when he says:

يَا بَدِيْعَ الدَّلِّ وَالْغَنَجِ     لَكَ سُلْطَانٌ عَلٰى الْمُهَجِ

“O you with unique and exquisite features and mannerisms! Your kingship extends over the hearts (of man).

إِنَّ بَيْتًا أَنْتَ سَاكِنُهُ     غَيْرُ مُحْتَاجٍ إِلٰى الـسُرُجِ

Certainly, the home wherein you reside does not require any lanterns.

وَجْهُكَ الْمَأْمُوْلُ حُجَّتُنَا     يَوْمَ يَأْتِيْ النَّاسُ بِالْحُجَجِ

Your blessed countenance, which we hope to see, will suffice for us as proof, on the day when people will present their proofs.”

Hazrat Hasan Basri (rahimahullah) says, “When I became a little big (during my youth), then while standing, I was able to touch the roof of these rooms with my hand (i.e. the roofs were not high).”

These rooms were situated on the eastern side of the musjid. There were no rooms on the western side.

(Extracted from Seeratul Mustafa 1/430-431)