God’s messenger came in to visit me accompanied by ‘Ali when we had some ripening dates hung up. He began to eat, and ‘Ali along with him, but God’s messenger said to ‘Ali, “Stop, Ali, for you are convalescing.” I then prepared some beetroot and barley for them and the Prophet said, “Take some of this, ‘Ali, for it will be more beneficial for you.”
‘A’isha reported God’s messenger as saying, “Do not cut meat with a knife, for it is a foreign practice, but bite it, for that is more beneficial and wholesome.”
Abu Dawud and Baihaqi, in Shu'ab al-iman, transmitted it, both saying it is not strong.
Anas said God’s messenger liked what was at the bottom of the pot.*
*Mirqat, iv, 381 has quite a long discussion of the meaning of thufl. It means 'dregs', or 'what sinks to the bottom'. The preference for the meaning in the translation above is said to "be either because what is in the bottom of the pot is cooked longer and so is better than the rest, or because the Prophet liked others to be served first. It is also suggested that here thufl means tharid.
Tirmidhi and Baihaqi, in Shu'ab al-iman, transmitted it.
