Sunan an-Nasa'i

Sunan an-Nasa'i 1515

The Book of Praying for Rain (Al-Istisqa') Search within the hadiths
Sunan an-Nasa'i 1515
Arabic hadith text

أَخْبَرَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ حَمَّادٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ سَعِيدٍ، - وَهُوَ الْمَقْبُرِيُّ - عَنْ شَرِيكِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ أَبِي نَمِرٍ، عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ، أَنَّهُ سَمِعَهُ يَقُولُ بَيْنَا نَحْنُ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ وَرَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَخْطُبُ النَّاسَ فَقَامَ رَجُلٌ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ تَقَطَّعَتِ السُّبُلُ وَهَلَكَتِ الأَمْوَالُ وَأَجْدَبَ الْبِلاَدُ فَادْعُ اللَّهَ أَنْ يَسْقِيَنَا ‏.‏ فَرَفَعَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَدَيْهِ حِذَاءَ وَجْهِهِ فَقَالَ ‏ "‏ اللَّهُمَّ اسْقِنَا ‏"‏ ‏.‏ فَوَاللَّهِ مَا نَزَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنِ الْمِنْبَرِ حَتَّى أُوسِعْنَا مَطَرًا وَأُمْطِرْنَا ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ إِلَى الْجُمُعَةِ الأُخْرَى فَقَامَ رَجُلٌ - لاَ أَدْرِي هُوَ الَّذِي قَالَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم اسْتَسْقِ لَنَا أَمْ لاَ - فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ انْقَطَعَتِ السُّبُلُ وَهَلَكَتِ الأَمْوَالُ مِنْ كَثْرَةِ الْمَاءِ فَادْعُ اللَّهَ أَنْ يُمْسِكَ عَنَّا الْمَاءَ ‏.‏ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏"‏ اللَّهُمَّ حَوَالَيْنَا وَلاَ عَلَيْنَا وَلَكِنْ عَلَى الْجِبَالِ وَمَنَابِتِ الشَّجَرِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ وَاللَّهِ مَا هُوَ إِلاَّ أَنْ تَكَلَّمَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بِذَلِكَ تَمَزَّقَ السَّحَابُ حَتَّى مَا نَرَى مِنْهُ شَيْئًا ‏.‏

Translation

‘Isa ibn Hammad narrated to us; he said: Al-Layth narrated to us, from Sa‘id—the al-Maqburi—from Sharik ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Abi Namir, from Anas ibn Malik, who heard him say: While we were in the mosque on Friday and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was addressing the people, a man stood and said, “O Messenger of Allah, the roads are cut off, our property is perishing, and the lands have become barren. Pray to Allah to send us rain.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his hands level with his face and said, “O Allah, send us rain.” By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had not yet descended from the pulpit when abundant rain fell upon us. It rained from that day until the following Friday. Then a man stood up—I do not know whether he was the one who had asked the Messenger of Allah to pray for rain for us or someone else—and said, “O Messenger of Allah, the roads are cut off and our property is perishing from the excess of water. Pray to Allah to hold the water back from us.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “O Allah, [let the rain fall] around us, not upon us, but on the mountains and places where trees grow.” He said: By Allah, no sooner had the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said this than the clouds broke apart until we could no longer see any of them.

Translation notes

  • The Arabic distinguishes the initial drought and later flood damage; both details are retained. The words “[let the rain fall]” clarify the elliptical supplication.

  • ‏ فَوَاللَّهِ مَا نَزَلَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنِ الْمِنْبَرِ حَتَّى أُوسِعْنَا مَطَرًا وَأُمْطِرْنَا ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ إِلَى الْجُمُعَةِ الأُخْرَى فَقَامَ رَجُلٌ - لاَ أَدْرِي هُوَ الَّذِي قَالَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم اسْتَسْقِ لَنَا أَمْ لاَ - فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ انْقَطَعَتِ السُّبُلُ وَهَلَكَتِ الأَمْوَالُ مِنْ كَثْرَةِ الْمَاءِ فَادْعُ اللَّهَ أَنْ يُمْسِكَ عَنَّا الْمَاءَ ‏.

    The narrator explicitly says he does not know whether the second man was the first petitioner.

    Can the second petitioner’s identity be determined from this source, or should the stated uncertainty remain?