أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مَنْصُورٍ عَنْ سُفْيَانَ عَنْ عَمْرٍو قَالَ سَمِعْتُ جَابِرًا يَقُولُ بَعَثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ثَلَاثَ مِائَةِ رَاکِبٍ أَمِيرُنَا أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ بْنُ الْجَرَّاحِ نَرْصُدُ عِيرَ قُرَيْشٍ فَأَقَمْنَا بِالسَّاحِلِ فَأَصَابَنَا جُوعٌ شَدِيدٌ حَتَّی أَکَلْنَا الْخَبَطَ قَالَ فَأَلْقَی الْبَحْرُ دَابَّةً يُقَالُ لَهَا الْعَنْبَرُ فَأَکَلْنَا مِنْهُ نِصْفَ شَهْرٍ وَادَّهَنَّا مِنْ وَدَکِهِ فَثَابَتْ أَجْسَامُنَا وَأَخَذَ أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ ضِلْعًا مِنْ أَضْلَاعِهِ فَنَظَرَ إِلَی أَطْوَلِ جَمَلٍ وَأَطْوَلِ رَجُلٍ فِي الْجَيْشِ فَمَرَّ تَحْتَهُ ثُمَّ جَاعُوا فَنَحَرَ رَجُلٌ ثَلَاثَ جَزَائِرَ ثُمَّ جَاعُوا فَنَحَرَ رَجُلٌ ثَلَاثَ جَزَائِرَ ثُمَّ جَاعُوا فَنَحَرَ رَجُلٌ ثَلَاثَ جَزَائِرَ ثُمَّ نَهَاهُ أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ قَالَ سُفْيَانُ قَالَ أَبُو الزُّبَيْرِ عَنْ جَابِرٍ فَسَأَلْنَا النَّبِيَّ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ هَلْ مَعَکُمْ مِنْهُ شَيْئٌ قَالَ فَأَخْرَجْنَا مِنْ عَيْنَيْهِ کَذَا وَکَذَا قُلَّةً مِنْ وَدَکٍ وَنَزَلَ فِي حَجَّاجِ عَيْنِهِ أَرْبَعَةُ نَفَرٍ وَکَانَ مَعَ أَبِي عُبَيْدَةَ جِرَابٌ فِيهِ تَمْرٌ فَکَانَ يُعْطِينَا الْقَبْضَةَ ثُمَّ صَارَ إِلَی التَّمْرَةِ فَلَمَّا فَقَدْنَاهَا وَجَدْنَا فَقْدَهَا
سنن نسائی · Hadith 4367
It was narrated that ‘Amr said: “I heard Jabir say: ‘The Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم sent us, three hundred riders led by ‘Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah, to lie in wait for the caravan of the Quraish. We stayed on the coast and became very hungry, so much so that we ate Khabat. Then the sea cast ashore a beast called (Al ‘Anbar), and we ate from it for half a month, and daubed our bodies with its fat, and our health was restored. Abu ‘Ubaidah took one of its ribs and looked for the tallest camel and the tallest man in the army, and he passed beneath it. Then they got hungry again and a man slaughtered three camels, then they got hungry and a man slaughtered three camels, then they got hungry and a man slaughtered three camels. Then Abu ‘Ubaidah told him not to do that.” (One of the narrators) Sufyan said: “Abd Az-Zubair said, narrating from Jabir: “We asked the Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم and he said: ‘Do you have anything left of it?” He said: “We took out, such-and-such an amount of fat from its (the whale’s) eyes, and four men could fit into its eye socket. Abu ‘Ubaidah had a sack of dates and he used to give them out b the handful, then he started to give one date at a time, and when we ran out of dates it became very difficult for us.” (Sahih)
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020