The Bedouin then asked, “Does our Lord laugh, O Messenger of Allah?”
“Yes,” he replied.

The Bedouin exclaimed, “In that case, O Messenger of Allah, we shall never be deprived of good from a Lord who laughs!” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed at his remark.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ rose, ascended the pulpit, spoke briefly, and raised his hands—for he would raise his hands in no supplication except the prayer for rain—so high that the whiteness of his under-arms could be seen. Among the words of his supplication that have been preserved are:

“O Allah, give drink to Your land and Your livestock; spread Your mercy and revive Your dead country. O Allah, send us rain that brings relief—wholesome, abundant, plentiful, wide-spreading—quickly, without delay, beneficial and not harmful. O Allah, a downpour of mercy, not of punishment, not of destruction, drowning, or obliteration. O Allah, send us the rain and grant us victory over the enemies.”

Abu Lubābah ibn ʿAbd al-Mundhir then stood and said, “O Messenger of Allah, the dates are lying in the drying yards.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “O Allah, send us rain.” Abu Lubābah repeated, “The dates are in the drying yards,” three times. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then prayed, “O Allah, send us rain until Abu Lubābah must rise bare-bodied and plug the holes of his date yard with his cloak.”

By Allah, there was not a patch of cloud in the sky, nor, between the mosque and Mount Salʿ, a single building or house, when suddenly a cloud the size of a shield appeared from behind Salʿ. When it reached the middle of the sky it spread out as they watched, and rain began to fall. By Allah, they did not see the sun for six days, and Abu Lubābah rose bare-bodied, stuffing the holes of his date yard with his garment lest the dates be washed away.

A man cried out, “O Messenger of Allah, our wealth has been ruined and the roads have been cut off!” The Prophet ﷺ ascended the pulpit again, supplicated, and raised his hands until the whiteness of his armpits was visible, then said:

“O Allah, around us and not upon us. O Allah, on the hilltops, the knolls, the valley beds, and the places where trees grow.”

The cloud then withdrew from over Madinah as a garment is drawn aside.

This version closely resembles the wording transmitted by Muslim al-Mullāʾī from Anas; parts of it are corroborated in Sunan Abū Dāwūd and in the ḥadīth of Abū Razīn al-ʿUqaylī. Allah knows best.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī said in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah: Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Muʾammal informed us; Abū Aḥmad Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥāfiẓ related to us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim related to us; Muḥammad ibn Ḥammād al-Ẓuhrānī reported to us; Sahl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, known as al-Sindī ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Uways al-Madanī, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥarmalah, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Lubābah ibn ʿAbd al-Mundhir.