When Allah granted His Messenger ﷺ the conquest of Makkah, he stood among the people, praised Allah and glorified Him, then said, "Allah held back the elephant from Makkah and gave power over it to His Messenger and the believers. It was never made lawful for anyone before me, and it has been made lawful for me only for a single hour of one day, and it will never be lawful for anyone after me. So its game must not be driven away, its thorny plants must not be cut, and its lost property may not be picked up except by one who will announce it publicly. Whoever has someone killed has the choice of two options, either compensation is paid or the killer is executed."Abbas said, "Except for the idhkhir grass, Messenger of Allah, for we use it in our graves and our houses."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Except for the idhkhir."Then Abu Shah, a man from Yemen, stood up and said, "Write it down for me, Messenger of Allah."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Write it down for Abu Shah."Walid said, I asked Awzai, "What did he mean by his words, 'Write it down for me, Messenger of Allah'?"He replied, "He meant this sermon which he had heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ."
لما فتح الله عز وجل على رسول الله ﷺ مكة قام في الناس، فحمد الله وأثنى عليه، ثم قال: إن الله حبس عن مكة الفيل، وسلط عليها رسوله والمؤمنين، وإنها لن تحل لأحد كان قبلي، وإنها أحلت لي ساعة من نهار، وإنها لن تحل لأحد بعدي، فلا ينفر صيدها، ولا يختلي شوكها، ولا تحل ساقطتها إلا لمنشد، ومن قتل له قتيل فهو بخير النظرين، إما أن يفدى وإما أن يقتل. فقال العباس: إلا الإذخر يا رسول الله؟ فإنا نجعله في قبورنا وبيوتنا. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: إلا الإذخر. فقام أبو شاه رجل من أهل اليمن فقال: اكتبوا لي يا رسول الله فقال رسول الله ﷺ: اكتبوا لأبي شاه قال الوليد: فقلت للأوزاعي: ما قوله اكتبوا لي يا رسول الله؟ قال هذه الخطبة التي سمعها من رسول الله ﷺ.
Bukhari narrated it in the Chapter on Lost Property (2434), and Muslim narrated it in the Chapter on Hajj (1355:447), both through the route of Walid bin Muslim, who said, Uzai narrated to us, who said, Yahya bin Abu Kathir narrated to me, who said, Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman narrated to me, who said, Abu Hurairah narrated to me, and he mentioned it.Muslim also narrated it in the Chapter on Hajj (1355:448) through another route from Yahya bin Abu Kathir, who said, Abu Salama informed me that he heard Abu Hurairah say, Khuza killed a man from Banu Layth in the year of the conquest of Makkah, in retaliation for one of their own whom they had killed. This was reported to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so he mounted his riding animal and delivered a sermon, saying, "Allah held back the elephant from Makkah..." and the rest of the hadith.