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told them that if they became Muslims they would never again go hungry.

Now that drought had stricken his land and food was in very short supply he told the
Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) he feared they would leave Islam on account of his
promise and so he had come to ask him for his help. Rather than rebuking the man for
giving such an unprecedented promise, the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) turned
to a Companion to see what might be given to the Bedouin, and the Companion told him
there was very little food to give. Zayd had been listening closely to the conversation and
told the Prophet that he knew of a date palm grove from which he could purchase unripe
dates that could be harvested when ripe and that the Prophet could pay for it later and
the Prophet (salla Allahu alihi wa sallam) agreed. In the meantime the Prophet gave the

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Bedouin something to buy food for his tribe to tide them over until the date harvest, with
the instruction to deal with it fairly.

Some time later, after the dates had been harvested and given to the Bedouin, Zayd