and the stones moved along with it, advancing until it nearly reached the ḥarra al-ʿArīḍ; then it came to a halt and remained still for several days. After that the fire (1) burst forth again, hurling stones both behind and before it, until it piled up two mountains to its rear and its front. What continued to issue from it between the two mountains formed a tongue (2) that lasted for days. It has now grown even larger, and that tongue (3) is still present; it blazes with the greatest possible intensity. Each day it emits a tremendous roar (4) from the last part of the night until mid-morning, and it displays marvels I am unable to describe to you in full—what I have set down here is but a large portion, yet it should suffice (5). To this hour the sun and the moon appear as though eclipsed. This letter was written when the fire had remained in its place for an entire month, advancing neither forward nor backward. (6)

Someone composed the following lines (7) about it, in the basīṭ metre:

O Remover of affliction, overlook our crimes;
Calamities, O Lord, have encompassed us on every side.
We complain to You of ordeals we cannot bear,
And truly we are the ones most deserving of them.
Earthquakes (8) before which the hard, unyielding rocks are humbled—
And how could (9) a lofty mountain withstand an earthquake?
For seven nights it kept shaking (10) the earth till it split,
So that, at the sight of it, the very eye of the sun grew dim.
A sea of fire, upon which (11) vessels sail,
Fashioned from hills whose anchors are fixed in the ground.
It is as though mountains floated above it,
Waves upon it from excessive fury (12) and turmoil (13).
It hurls sparks (14) the size of palaces, wildly flying,
Like a rain-laden cloud pouring torrents.
At its sigh the hearts of rocks are rent asunder (15) in terror,
And lights quiver like swaying palm fronds.
Smoke thickened from it in the sky
Until the sun (16) emerged from it dark and blackened.