The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) has said: Regard bread with great esteem for most of the entities that exist between the Arsh (Throne) and the earth have some form of contribution in making and preparing it. He (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) then said: Previous to you, there lived a Prophet by the name of Daniyal. One day he gave a loaf of bread to a pauper, who, upon receiving it frowned and flung it in the middle of the road, saying: What can I do with a loaf of bread, which has no worth.
When Daniyal witnessed this he raised his hands towards the skies and said: Honour bread with a lofty rank!
Due to that reprehensible act of that person, God withheld the rains from pouring and prohibited the earth from bringing forth its vegetation. Circumstances became so adverse that people resorted to cannibalism, and began eating one another.
Two women, each of them possessing two children, decided amongst themselves that one day the child of one woman would be eaten while the next day it would be the turn of the child of the other. On that day one child was consumed; however the next day, the mother of the other child whose turn it was to be eaten, refused to give her child. This led to a great dispute between them until eventually they approached Daniyal and placed their issue before him.
When he came to realise the condition of the people, he prayed to God, Who then opened the doors of His mercy upon them. ( Namunah-e-Ma’arif, v. 1, p. 276; Safinah al-Bihar, v. 1, p. 375. )