~622 CE, about six months
The Prophet ﷺ lived in the two-storey house of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari RA for about six months, while his own house and Masjid al-Nabawi were being built. At first Abu Ayyub and his wife moved upstairs, giving the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr RA the ground floor. Out of respect, the couple could not bear to live above him, and they insisted that he move to the upper floor. So the Prophet ﷺ spent only his first few weeks downstairs.
Illustrates the depth of the Ansar's hospitality and reverence for the Prophet ﷺ in the earliest days of the Madani era.
Other events recorded around the same time. Their order within the year is not established; use the storyline above for the sequence.
In the night, I turned over in my sleep and knocked over a jar of water. Fearing it would seep through the floor and drip onto the Messenger of Allah ﷺ below, my wife and I spent the rest of the night soaking it up with our blankets.
O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, what have I done? Is there something wrong?
Asked in a panic after a dish of food came back from upstairs untouched.
No, but the food has garlic in it.
Is garlic haram?
No. But I speak to those whom you do not speak to.
O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, please move up.
Abu Ayyub felt it improper that he and his wife had spent the night above the Prophet ﷺ's head, so the next morning he urged him to take the upper floor instead.
The bottom floor is easier for me.
No, wallahi, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! We can never ever be on top of you, on a roof that your head is under.