1473 — ‘Isa ibn ‘Ali informed us; ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Baghawi informed us ⦗880⦘. He said: Shayban narrated to us; he said: Mubarak ibn Fudalah narrated to us; he said: al-Hasan narrated to us, from Anas, who said:

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would deliver the Friday sermon beside a piece of wood against which he leaned his back. When the number of people increased, he said, “Build a pulpit for me.” So they built him a pulpit with two steps. When he stood upon the pulpit to deliver the sermon, the piece of wood moaned in longing for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Anas said: “I was in the mosque, and I heard the wood moaning like one bereft with grief. It continued to moan until he came down to it and embraced it, whereupon it fell silent.”

Whenever al-Hasan related this hadith, he would weep and then say: “Servants of Allah, the wood yearned for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ out of longing for him, because of his station with Allah, the Exalted; yet you have greater right to long for meeting him.”