and ʿUmar felt as though he were cut off from the provincial towns until Bilal ibn al-Harith al-Muzani arrived, sought permission to enter, and said, “I am the messenger of the Messenger of Allah to you. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, says to you:
‘I have always known you to be shrewd and discerning, and you have remained so—what, then, is the matter with you?’”
ʿUmar asked, “When did you see him?” He replied, “Last night.” ʿUmar went out and called, “Prayer in congregation!” He led them in two rakʿahs, then rose and said, “O people, I adjure you by Allah (1): do you know of any course of action on my part that is better (2) than the one I am pursuing?” They answered, “By Allah, no.” He continued, “Yet Bilal ibn al-Harith alleges such-and-such (3).” They said, “Bilal has spoken the truth; seek help from Allah and then from the Muslims.”
So he sent messages—for ʿUmar had been hemmed in—and ʿUmar said, “Allāhu akbar! The calamity has run its course and is now lifted. No people are granted leave to seek relief but that the harm and affliction are removed from them.” He wrote to the governors of the provinces: “Send aid to the people of Madinah and those around it, for hardship has reached its limit.”
He then brought the people out for istisqaʾ, and he himself went out on foot, accompanied by al-ʿAbbas ibn ʿAbd al-Muttalib (4). ʿUmar delivered a brief sermon, prayed, then knelt on his knees and said, “O Allah, You alone we worship and in You alone we seek help. O Allah, forgive us, have mercy on us, and be pleased with us.” They turned back, and before they reached their homes the gullies were running with water.
Sayf (5) also narrated—through Mubashshir ibn al-Fadl, from Jubayr ibn Sakhr, from ʿAsim ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab—that a man of Muzaynah, during the Year of the Ashes, was urged by his family to slaughter a sheep for them. He said, “There is nothing left among them,” but they persisted until he slaughtered one and found its bones red from hunger. He cried, “Ya Muhammadaah! (O Muhammad!) (6)”
That night he saw in a dream that the Messenger of Allah said to him:
“Rejoice in life (7); go to ʿUmar, convey my greetings to him, and say: ‘I have always known you to be faithful to the covenant, firm in resolve; so foresight, foresight, O ʿUmar!’”
The man went to ʿUmar’s door and said to his page, “Ask permission for the messenger of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” The page informed ʿUmar, who was alarmed. ʿUmar ascended the pulpit and said to the people, “I adjure you by Allah, who (8) guided you to Islam: have you seen anything from me that you dislike?” They replied, “By Allah, no—why do you ask?” He told them what the Muzani (9)—namely Bilal ibn al-Harith—had said, but they understood what he had not. They said, “He only thought you slow in leading us in istisqaʾ, so pray for rain with us.”
ʿUmar then summoned the people, delivered a concise sermon, led them in two brief rakʿahs, and supplicated: “O Allah, our helpers have failed us, our power and strength have failed us, our very souls have failed us, and there is no might and no power except through You. O Allah, send us rain and give life to the servants and the land.”