Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered me to guard the charity of Ramadan. So, in the middle of the night, someone came to me and began taking some grain. I caught him and said,“I will surely take you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).”He pleaded,“Let me go, for I am needy.”So I let him go out of pity. (In the morning) the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said after the Fajr prayer:“Abu Hurairah, what happened to your prisoner last night or the previous night?”I replied,“O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he mentioned his need and promised not to steal again, so I let him go.”Upon this, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“Beware, he lied to you and he will come again.”Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) says, so (the next night) I lay in wait for him, because I was sure, due to the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that he would come. So he came and began taking grain. (I caught him) and said,“I will surely take you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).”He again pleaded about his poverty and need, so I let him go out of pity. In the morning, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked me:“What happened to your prisoner last night?”I said,“O Messenger of Allah, he mentioned his poverty and promised not to steal again, so I let him go.”He (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“Beware, he lied to you and he will come again.”Because of the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), I was sure that he would come. So he came and began taking grain, and I caught him. I said to him,“Now I will surely take you to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).”He said,“Let me go, and I will teach you some words by which Allah will benefit you greatly.”And the Companions were very eager for good. (So I let him go.) He said,“When you go to your bed, recite Ayat al-Kursi «‏ اللَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا الَّذِي يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَئُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ» ‏‏‏‏ [ سورة البقرة: 255 ] , and Allah will appoint an angel to guard you from Allah’s side, and no devil will come near you until morning.”So I let him go. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) then said to him:“O Abu Hurairah,”so he told the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the whole story. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said,“He told you the truth, though he is a liar. Do you know who you have been speaking to for three nights? That was Satan.”