617 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:

When Allah—Exalted is He—opened Mecca for His Messenger, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood before the people, praised Allah and extolled Him, and then said: “Allah restrained the elephant from Mecca, yet He gave His Messenger and the believers power over it. It was never lawful for anyone before me, and it has only been made lawful for me for one short hour of the day; it will never again be lawful for anyone after me. Therefore, its game must not be driven away, its thorns must not be cut, and nothing that is found fallen in it may be picked up except by someone who announces it. Whoever has a relative who is killed has the choice of the better of the two options (retaliation or blood money).”

Al-ʿAbbās said, “Except for the idhkhir, O Messenger of Allah, for we use it in our graves and our houses.” He replied, “Except for the idhkhir.” Agreed upon (1).

Vocabulary of the ḥadith:
• “ḥabasa al-fīl” (He restrained the elephant): i.e., He prevented it from advancing. Ḥabs is the verbal noun of ḥabasa (Form I); its plural is hubūs, like fils and fulūs.
• “al-fīl” (the elephant): a large-bodied mammal with a long trunk used like a hand and two big protruding tusks from which ivory is taken; plural: afyāl and fīlah.
• “sallaṭa” (He empowered): with a doubled lām, from taslīṭ, meaning to give dominance and control.
• “sāʿa min nahār” (an hour of the day): the Arabs apply the word sāʿa to any span of time, even if brief; here it refers to the day of the Conquest.
• “lā yunaffaru ṣaydahā” (its game is not to be driven away): passive form with a doubled fā’; the verb nafar means to flee or be startled.