Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) began to serve the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) when he was ten years old, and continued to serve the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) until Allah took his soul in death, when Anas was twenty years old. In this hadith, Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) went out to relieve himself, meaning to urinate or defecate, he would follow him, accompanied by another servant who was younger than him, as is mentioned in the report of Abu Dawud. They would carry with them an iron-tipped stick, which was a stick with something like an arrowhead, or an ordinary stick, or a short spear. They would also bring a leather vessel filled with water. When the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) had finished relieving himself, one of them would give the vessel to him, and he would clean himself with the water, as mentioned in the report narrated by Muslim, or he would clean himself with pebbles and do wudu’ with the water. He would loosen the hard soil with the short spear or stick when he relieved himself, so as to prevent the urine splashing back. It was said that he took the short spear to use it as a sutrah and as a sign to people of the place where he was praying, so that they would not interrupt his prayer by walking in front of him. It was also said that the reason for carrying the spear and the water was that the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was committed to being in a state of purity most of the time, and when he did wudu’, he would pray whenever it was possible after doing wudu’. And it was said that he used to carry the stick or the spear to ward off any vermin of the earth that he might come across, because he used to go far away to relieve himself..