Saʿd (1) ibn Abī Waqqāṣ narrated from his father (2):
“He set out with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, accompanied by a number of his Companions, coming from al-ʿĀliyah (3). When he passed by the mosque of Banū Muʿāwiyah, he entered it, prayed two cycles, and we prayed with him. He then supplicated to his Lord for a long while. Afterward he turned to us and said:
‘I asked my Lord for three matters, and He granted me two of them while withholding one.
I asked my Lord not to destroy my ummah by a widespread famine, (4) and He granted it to me. I asked my Lord not to destroy my ummah by drowning, and He granted it to me. And I asked Him not to let their violence be directed against one another, but He withheld that from me.’ (6)
Muslim (7) likewise related in his Ṣaḥīḥ, on the authority of Thawbān (8), that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
(1) Amir ibn Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas al-Laythi, a leading tabiʿi, reliable and prolific in hadith. He heard a number of Companions, and in turn was narrated from by Saʿid ibn al-Musayyab, Mujahid, al-Zuhri, Ashʿath ibn Ishaq, and others. He died in Medina in 104 AH/722 CE. See: Ibn Saʿd, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra 5:167; Ibn Abi Hatim, al-Jarh wa al-Taʿdil 6:321.
(2) In manuscript B the phrase “may Allah be pleased with him” is added.
(3) al-ʿAliyah is the sector of Medina that lies toward Najd. See Yaqut, Muʿjam al-Buldan 5:71, s.v. ʿayn.
(4) The printed edition reads “wa saʾaltu (and I asked),” contrary to the wording in Sahih Muslim and the other manuscripts.
(5) Here al-sannah denotes a widespread drought and famine. See al-Qamus al-Muhit, root s-n-h, 4:287–88.
(6) The hadith is recorded in Sahih Muslim, Book of Tribulations and the Portents of the Hour, chapter “The destruction of this ummah by one another,” no. 2890 (4:2216).
(7) I.e. Sahih Muslim.
(8) He is the freedman of the Messenger of Allah: Thawban ibn Bujudd—also said ibn Jahdar—from Yemen. Taken captive in the pre-Islamic period, he was purchased and manumitted by the Prophet, who then allowed him the choice of returning to his people or remaining with him; he chose to stay and thereafter never left the Prophet in travel or at home. He later witnessed the conquest of Egypt, settled in Hims, built a house there, and remained until his death—though some report that he died in Egypt—in 54 AH/674 CE. See Ibn Kathir, al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah 5:314.