A sahabi came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and complained of hunger and distress. Just then, the Prophet (peace be upon him) had nothing in hand, or in his house, to feed him. He asked the sahaba if anyone would entertain him as a guest tonight on his behalf? One of the ansars said that they would do that.

The ansari took the person to his house and instructed his wife, "Look here, this man is a guest of the Prophet. We will entertain the best as we can." The wife replied "By Allah! I have no food in the house, except a very little something just enough for the children." The husband suggested his wife to put the children to sleep without feeding them, while he sits with the guest over the meager meal. He told his wife that when they start eating, put out the lamp pretending to set it right, so that the guest may not become aware of my not sharing the meal with him.

The scheme worked very well, and the whole family, including the children stayed hungry to enable the guest to eat to his full.

It was over this incident that Allah revealed the verse:

They prefer others above themselves, even though poverty becomes their lot — Holy Qur'an (59:9)