It possessed a glimmer, and its hemorrhoids returned. The people were terrified by it and withdrew. When 'Isa saw that from them, he said: "What is the matter with you? You ask for a sign, and when your Lord shows it to you, you dislike it? How I fear for you that you will be punished for what you do! O fish, return by the permission of Allah as you were." So it returned by the permission of Allah, cooked as it was in its initial state. They said to 'Isa: "O Spirit of Allah, be you the one who begins by eating from what was requested." When the disciples and their companions saw the refusal of their Prophet to eat from it, they feared that there might be wrath in its descent, and likewise in eating it, so they feared it. When 'Isa saw that, he invited the poor and the infirm to it, and said: "Eat from the provision of your Lord and the prayer of your Prophet, and praise Allah who sent it down to you, so that its preparation is for you, and its punishment is upon others. Begin, all of you, in the name of Allah, and conclude it with praise to Allah." They did so, and 1,300 people—men and women—ate from it. They departed from it, every one of them satiated and belching. 'Isa and the disciples looked, and the food was as it had been when it descended from the sky, not the slightest bit diminished. Then it was raised to the sky while they were looking. Every poor person who ate from it became self-sufficient, and every infirm person who ate from it was healed, and they remained wealthy and healthy until they departed this world.

The disciples and their companions who had refused to eat from it felt remorse, and their friends asked for it, and the regret for it remained in their hearts. The wealthy and the poor, the young and the old, the healthy and the sick [all rushed to it], some climbing over others.

When he saw that, he made it [available on] turns, descending one day and not descending another. They remained in that state for forty days, it descending upon them intermittently at the time of the rising of the sun (Duha). It would remain set out, and they would eat from it until, when they stood up, it would ascend from them by the permission of Allah into the atmosphere of the sky, while they watched its shadow on the earth until it was hidden from them.

7041 - 'Ali ibn al-Husayn narrated to us, Muhammad narrated to us, Mihran narrated to us, from Sufyan, he said: They mention that the table (al-Ma'idah) descended twice.