The companions of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) respected and venerated him very much, and held him in the highest esteem. One of the examples of that is what is mentioned in this hadith. The context is the story of al-Hudaybiyyah, when the polytheists prevented the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and his companions from reaching the Sacred House for ‘umrah, and they sent the delegation to negotiate with him, until they drew up the treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah with him. The time for prayer came whilst ‘Urwah ibn Mas‘ud, who had come to negotiate with the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was there. When the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) got up to do wudu’, his companions almost fought over his left over wudu’ water, because they were rushing to get it. But the one who narrated that – in this hadith – was Mahmoud ibn al-Rabi‘ (may Allah be pleased with him); he was the one in whose face the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had playfully sprayed water onto his face from his mouth, when Mahmoud was a small child; that water came from a bucket drawn from the well of the people of Mahmoud ibn al-Rabi‘. This was also narrated by ‘Urwah ibn Zubayr, from al-Miswar ibn Makhramah (may Allah be pleased with him) and someone else, namely Marwan ibn al-Hakam, each of them confirming that the other was telling the truth; in other words, both al-Miswar and Marwan confirmed one another’s narration of the hadith. This hadith indicates that leaders and people of virtue may play and joke with children. It also highlights how the Sahabah venerated and respected the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), and how they sought blessing (barakah) from his relics and leftover wudu water..