It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the head of a sheep was given as a gift to a man among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: Indeed my brother so-and-so and his family are more in need of this than we are. So he sent it to him. In this way the head kept passing from one to another until, after going round seven households, it came back to the first house. Then this verse was revealed: "And they give preference to others over themselves, even though they are in need." [Al-Hashr: 9] This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.