Hazrat Abu Bakr ibnul-Muqri (rahimahullah) reports the following incident:
Imaam Tabraani (rahimahullah), Hazrat Abu Sheikh (rahimahullah) and I were once together in Madinah Munawwarah. We could not find anything to eat. We were suffering from hunger and used to fast for days on end.
One evening, at the time of Esha, I went to the blessed grave of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and said, “O Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), we are extremely hungry.” After returning from the Rowdhah Mubaarak, Imaam Tabraani (rahimahullah) said to me, “Sit! Food shall either come to us or we shall die.” Thus, Hazrat Abu Sheikh (rahimahullah) and I waited while Imaam Tabraani (rahimahullah) remained seated, deep in thought.
Suddenly, a man from the ‘Alawi family (the descendants of Hazrat ‘Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu)) knocked at the door. We opened the door and found a man with two servants, each one carrying a large basket with many kinds of delicious foods. We all ate, and after we had eaten to our fill, we thought that the leftovers would be eaten by the servants. However, the ‘Alawi left all the food with us. Before departing, he said, “You have complained about hunger to Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam). I have seen Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) in a dream and he commanded me to bring food to you.”
(Fazaa’il-e-Madinah)
