This ḥadith is recorded in both Ṣaḥīḥ collections (1) through the chain of Khālid ibn Mihrān al-Ḥaddāʾ, from Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī—whose name is ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mall—who said: ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ related to me that the Messenger of God ﷺ appointed him commander of the expedition of Dhāt al-Salāsil. ʿAmr said: I went to him and asked, “Which of the people is dearest to you?” He replied, “ʿĀʾishah.” I said, “And among the men?” He answered, “Her father.” I said, “Then who?” He said, “Then ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb.” He went on to name other men. This is the wording preserved by al-Bukhārī. In another version (2) ʿAmr says, “I kept silent for fear that he would place me last.”

The Detachment of Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ to the Sea-Coast (3)

Imām Mālik relates, on the authority of Wahb ibn Kaysān, from Jābir, who said: The Messenger of God ﷺ dispatched a force toward the coast and appointed Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ as commander; they were three hundred strong, and I was among them. We set out, and when we had progressed some distance our provisions were spent. The remaining supplies of the army were brought to Abū ʿUbaydah and, when gathered, amounted to only two bags of dates. He rationed them to us in tiny portions each day until they were finished, so that each of us received only a single date. I asked, “What good is one date?” He replied, “We came to appreciate it once even that was gone.”

We then reached the sea and came upon a fish as large as a small hill. The army ate from it for eighteen nights. After that Abū ʿUbaydah had two of its ribs set upright, saddled a camel, and it passed beneath them without touching them. Both Ṣaḥīḥs record this through the narration of Mālik (4) with a similar wording.

It is likewise found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs (5) through the chain of Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, from Jābir, who said: The Messenger of God ﷺ sent us out—three hundred mounted men—under the command of Abū ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrāḥ to lie in wait for a Quraysh caravan. Severe hunger overtook us until we began to eat khabaṭ (desert leaves); accordingly, the force came to be called the “Army of Khabaṭ.” A man slaughtered three camels, then another three, then three more, whereupon Abū ʿUbaydah forbade him. The sea then cast up a creature called al-ʿAnbar; we ate from it for half a month and anointed ourselves with its fat until our bodies regained their strength and health. He then mentioned the story of the rib.

The statement in the report—“We were lying in wait for a Quraysh caravan”—indicates that this expedition took place before the Treaty of al-Ḥudaybiyyah, and God knows best.