to sit on one’s knees.

What can be learned from the report:

1. The wind has been used to punish earlier nations; therefore the Prophet ﷺ feared that his own community might be wiped out by such an all-consuming chastisement.
2. Winds may also be a mercy. The Prophet ﷺ said, “I was helped by the ṣabā (easterly breeze), whereas the people of ʿĀd were destroyed by the dabūr (westerly wind).” Allah the Exalted likewise says, “And We send the winds as pollinators” (15:22). The winds pollinate the clouds and fertilize the trees by carrying the pollen of the males to the females. Truly, Allah has wondrous dispositions in His creation.