and they were written on the fifth of Rajab, while the fire was still raging; they reached us on the tenth of Shaʿbān. Then he wrote:

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
Letters reached the city of Damascus—may Allah protect it—at the beginning of Shaʿbān in the year 654 AH, sent from the City of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ. They contained a detailed account of a momentous occurrence there, providing full confirmation of what is related in both Ṣaḥīḥ collections on the authority of Abū Hurayrah.
He said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared:

“The Hour will not be established until a fire issues from the land of Ḥijāz that will illuminate the necks of the camels in Busra.” (1)

Someone I trust, who witnessed the event in Madīnah, informed me that people in Taymāʾ were able to write their letters by its light. He added: “During those nights we remained inside our houses, yet it was as though every home contained its own lamp. Despite the fire’s immense size, it gave off no heat or scorching wind; it was simply a sign from among the signs of Allah—Exalted is He.”

Abū Shāma (2) says: “Here is the exact wording of the letters I examined on the matter:

‘On the night of Wednesday, the third of Jumādā al-Ākhirah in the year 654 AH, a tremendous roar was heard in al-Madīnah—the Prophetic city—followed by a powerful earthquake that made the earth, walls, roofs, beams, and doors shake hour after hour until Friday, the fifth of that same month. Then a mighty fire appeared in the ḥarra (lava field) near the district of Qurayẓah. We could see it from our houses inside Madīnah as though it were right beside us. It was an enormous blaze, its flames rising higher than three minarets (3). Valleys of fire flowed from it down the course of Wādī Shaẓā (the Shaẓā valley) like water, so that the normal flow of Shaẓā was diverted and ceased to carry water (4). By Allah, a group of us climbed up to look at it, and we saw the mountains pouring forth fire. The lava field blocked the route of the Iraqi pilgrimage caravan; it advanced until it reached the ḥarra, then halted when we feared it would come upon us, before turning eastward (5). From its midst there emerged (6) plains (7) and mountains of fire that consumed the stones, a living example of what Allah, Exalted be He, has said: “indeed, it throws out sparks as [big as] palaces (32), as though they were yellow camels” [Qurʾān 77:32–33]. It devoured the land. I am writing this letter on the fifth of Rajab, 654 AH, and the fire is still increasing, not diminishing. It has returned to the volcanic area of Qurayẓah, blocking once again the pack-animal path of the Iraqi pilgrims (8) toward the ḥarra (9); the entire stretch is aflame, and we can see it from Madīnah at night as though it were the pilgrims’ torches. As for the Mother…’