A man came to the Prophet ﷺ on a Friday while he was delivering the sermon in Medina and said, "The rain has stopped falling, so ask your Lord to send us rain."The Prophet ﷺ looked up at the sky, and we could not see any clouds. He then prayed for rain, and the clouds began to gather one upon another. Rain poured down until the water channels of Medina were flowing, and it did not let up until the following Friday.Then that same man, or another, stood up while the Prophet ﷺ was delivering the sermon and said, "We are drowning. Pray to your Lord to hold it back from us."The Prophet ﷺ smiled, then said two or three times, "O Allah, around us and not upon us."The clouds began to split apart over Medina, to the right and to the left, raining on the surrounding areas while not a drop fell on the city itself. Allah was showing them the honor of His Prophet ﷺ and the answering of his prayer.
أن رجلا جاء إلى النبي ﷺ يوم الجمعة، وهو يخطب بالمدينة، فقال: قحط المطر، فاستسق ربك. فنظر إلى السماء وما نرى من سحاب، فاستسقى، فنشأ السحاب بعضه إلى بعض، ثم مطروا حتى سالت مثاعب المدينة، فما زالت إلى الجمعة المقبلة ما تقلع، ثم قام ذلك الرجل أو غيره، والنبي ﷺ يخطب، فقال: غرقنا، فادع ربك يحبسها عنا، فضحك ثم قال: اللهم حوالينا ولا علينا مرتين أو ثلاثا، فجعل السحاب يتصدع عن المدينة يمينا وشمالا، يمطر ما حوالينا ولا يمطر منها شيء، يريهم الله كرامة نبيه ﷺ وإجابة دعوته.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Manners (6093) from Muhammad bin Mahbub, who said, Abu Awana narrated to us, from Qatada, from Anas, and he related it.Bukhari also narrated it in the Book of Rain Prayer (1014), and Muslim in the Book of Rain Prayer (897:8), both of them through the route of Sharik bin Abu Nimr, from Anas bin Malik, and he related it with a longer wording than this.