The Holy Prophet’s (sa) stay at his House
Hence, the Holy Prophet (sa) stayed at his home. His house had two floors. Hazrat Abu Ayub Ansari (ra) stayed in the upper floor and the lower floor was offered to the Holy Prophet (sa). He [Hazrat Abu Ayub Ansari (ra)] was on the upper floor one night, when a vessel or pot of water broke. They used to have pots of clay, in which they stored water. Even today, water is stored in such pots in third-world and impoverished countries, such as Pakistan and in Africa.
Anyhow, the pot broke. Hazrat Abu Ayub Ansari (ra) and his wife spent the entire night drying [the spillage] with their quilt. The following day, he related the incident that had transpired the previous night to the Holy Prophet (sa) and requested the Holy Prophet (sa) to stay on the upper floor. The Holy Prophet (sa) accepted his request and stayed with him for approximately six or seven months. He tried to fulfil his dues of hospitality most excellently.
His own meal would be the leftovers of the Holy Prophet (sa). In a narration it is mentioned that wherever the marks of the Holy Prophet’s fingers could be seen, he would eat the leftovers of the Holy Prophet (sa) from there. One day, he observed that there were no finger marks of the Holy Prophet (sa) on the food and the food seemed not to have been eaten. He went to the Holy Prophet (sa) and asked, “Huzoor, you did not eat today?” Upon this the Holy Prophet (sa) replied, “I was about to eat, when I noticed that it was prepared with onions and garlic. As I do not like these, I did not eat.” Hazrat Abu Ayyub Ansari (ra) said, “I dislike whatever the Holy Prophet (sa) dislikes and I will never eat these items in future.” How astonishing are these stories of love and devotion.
(Musnad Ahmad Bin Hanbal, Vol. 7, p. 781, Hadith 23966, Musnad Abu Ayub Ansari(ra), ‘Alam Al-Kutub, Beirut) (Sahih Muslim, Al-Ashriba, Bab Abahatu Aklith-Thaum, Hadith 5356) (Al-Tabqat Al-Kubra Li-ibni Sa‘d, Vol. 1, p. 183, Dhikr Khuruj Rasulullah(sa), Darul Kutub Al-‘Ilmiyah, Beirut 1990)