that she said to ʿUrwa, "O, the son of my sister! We used to see three crescents in two months, and no fire used to be made in the houses of Messenger of Allah ﷺ (i.e. nothing used to be cooked)." ʿUrwa said, "What used to sustain you?" ʿAisha said, "The two black things i.e. dates and water, except that Messenger of Allah ﷺ had neighbors from the Ansar who had some milch she-camels, and they used to give the Prophet ﷺ some milk from their house, and he used to make us drink it."
أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ لِعُرْوَةَ ابْنَ أُخْتِي إِنْ كُنَّا لَنَنْظُرُ إِلَى الْهِلاَلِ ثَلاَثَةَ أَهِلَّةٍ فِي شَهْرَيْنِ وَمَا أُوقِدَتْ فِي أَبْيَاتِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ نَارٌ فَقُلْتُ مَا كَانَ يُعِيشُكُمْ قَالَتِ الأَسْوَدَانِ التَّمْرُ وَالْمَاءُ إِلاَّ أَنَّهُ قَدْ كَانَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ جِيرَانٌ مِنَ الأَنْصَارِ كَانَ لَهُمْ مَنَائِحُ وَكَانُوا يَمْنَحُونَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ مِنْ أَبْيَاتِهِمْ فَيَسْقِينَاهُ