If rain is a cause of the earth’s producing vegetation, Allah Most High can bring about whatever prevents its effect from resulting from that cause. Allah Most High is the Creator of causes and their effects, and nothing is beyond His power.
Abū Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Drought does not mean that no rain falls upon you. Rather, drought is when rain falls upon you again and again, yet the earth produces nothing” (1).
48 — The Euphrates (2) Uncovering a Mountain of Gold:
Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “The Hour will not come until the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold over which the people will fight. Ninety-nine out of every hundred will be killed, and each man among them will say, ‘Perhaps I shall be the one who survives’” (3).
al-Haythamī cited it and said: “Ahmad, al-Bazzār, and Abū Ya‘lā narrated it … and the narrators in all their chains are trustworthy.” *Majma al-Zawā’id* (7/330).
Ibn Kathīr said: “Its chain of transmission is good, and they did not transmit it through this route.” *Al-Nihāya: al-Fitan wa-l-Malāhim* (1/180), edited by Dr. Tāhā Zaynī.
(1) *Sahih Muslim*, Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Hour (18/30, with al-Nawawī’s commentary).
(2) *Al-Furāt* (the Euphrates): The initial *fā* bears a damma (u-vowel), followed by a dotless, ungeminated *rā*, and ending in a *tā* with two dots above. It is said to be an Arabized word. In Arabic usage, *furāt* means fresh water. The Euphrates is a great river whose source, according to some accounts, lies in Armenia. It then enters Byzantine territory and reaches Malatya, where several small rivers flow into it. It then passes al-Raqqa and branches into waterways that irrigate the crops of al-Sawād in Iraq. It joins the Tigris near Wāsit, after which both rivers empty into the Arabian Gulf (formerly called the Sea of India). See *Mu‘jam al-Buldān* (4/241–242).
(3) *Sahih al-Bukhārī*, Book of Tribulations, chapter “The Emergence of the Fire” (13/78, with *Fath al-Bārī*); and *Sahih Muslim*, Book of Tribulations and Portents of the Hour (18/18, with al-Nawawī’s commentary).