حَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ قَالَ عَبْد اللَّهِ بْن أَحْمَد وَسَمِعْتُهُ أَنَا مِنْهُ حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ عَنِ الْأَعْمَشِ عَنْ جَعْفَرِ بْنِ إِيَاسٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ قَالَ سَأَلَ أَهْلُ مَكَّةَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنْ يَجْعَلَ لَهُمْ الصَّفَا ذَهَبًا وَأَنْ يُنَحِّيَ الْجِبَالَ عَنْهُمْ فَيَزْدَرِعُوا فَقِيلَ لَهُ إِنْ شِئْتَ أَنْ تَسْتَأْنِيَ بِهِمْ وَإِنْ شِئْتَ أَنْ تُؤْتِيَهُمْ الَّذِي سَأَلُوا فَإِنْ كَفَرُوا أُهْلِكُوا كَمَا أَهْلَكْتُ مَنْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَالَ لَا بَلْ أَسْتَأْنِي بِهِمْ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ وَمَا مَنَعَنَا أَنْ نُرْسِلَ بِالْآيَاتِ إِلَّا أَنْ كَذَّبَ بِهَا الْأَوَّلُونَ وَآتَيْنَا ثَمُودَ النَّاقَةَ مُبْصِرَةً
مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 2333
It was narrated that Ibn 'Abbas (RA) said: The people of Makkah asked the Prophet (PBUH) to turn as-Safa into gold for them and to remove the mountains from around them so that they could cultivate (the land). It was said to him: If you want, you can be patient with them or if you want, you can give them what they asked for, but if they disbelieve/ they will be destroyed as those who came before them were destroyed. He said: "Rather I shall be patient with them’' Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, revealed this verse: "And nothing stops Us from sending the Ayat (proofs, evidences, signs) but that the people of old denied them. And We sent the she-camel to Thamood as a clear sign, " [al- Isra' 17:59].
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020