Mishkat al-Masabih 5913

Anas said:

When the Prophet was newly married to Zainab, my mother Umm Sulaim took some dates, clarified butter and curd, and made hais[1]. When she had prepared it in a cooking-pot she said, "Take this to God's messenger, Anas, say your mother has sent this to him along with her good wishes, and tell him this is a small gift to him from us." When I had gone and repeated this, he told me to put it down, then said, "Go and invite so and so, so and so, and so and so (naming some men) to come to me, and invite those whom you meet to come to me." I invited those he named and those I met, and when I returned the house was crowded with people[2]. (Anas was asked how many there were and replied that there were about three hundred.) I saw the Prophet put his hand on that bit of hais and say such words as God wished. He then began to invite them to eat in groups of ten, and he was saying to them, "Mention God's name, and let each man eat from the place nearest him." When they had eaten to their satisfaction one party went out and another entered till they had all eaten. He told me to remove the food and I did so, and I do not know whether there was more of it when I set it down or when I removed it. Hais (special dish prepared from dried yoghourt, butter and dates). This is what the Arabic says, but in view of what follows about the people being admitted in tens, it probably means that the house was surrounded by a great throng. (Bukhari and Muslim.)