The people were struck by a year of drought during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. While the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was delivering the Friday sermon from the pulpit, an Arabi stood up and said, "Messenger of Allah, our wealth is destroyed and our families are hungry. Pray to Allah to send us rain."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ raised his hands, and there was not a single Qaza in the sky. Then clouds rose up like mountains, and before he descended from his pulpit, I saw the rain dripping down his beard. It rained on us that day, the next day, the day after that, and the following day, all the way until the next Friday.Then that same Arabi, or another man, stood up and said, "Messenger of Allah, the buildings have collapsed and the livestock have drowned. Pray to Allah for us."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ raised his hands and said, "Allah, around us and not upon us." He did not point his hand toward any part of the sky except that it cleared, until Madinah stood in what looked like an opening in the clouds, and the valley of Qanat flowed for a month. No one came from any direction without speaking of the abundant rain.
أصاب الناس سنة على عهد رسول الله ﷺ، فبينا رسول الله ﷺ يخطب على المنبر يوم الجمعة، قام أعرابي فقال: يا رسول الله، هلك المال، وجاع العيال، فادع الله لنا أن يسقينا، قال: فرفع رسول الله ﷺ يديه، وما في السماء قزعة، قال: فثار سحاب أمثال الجبال، ثم لم ينزل عن منبره حتى رأيت المطر يتحادر على لحيته، قال: فمطرنا يومنا ذلك، وفي الغد، ومن بعد الغد، والذي يليه إلى الجمعة الأخرى، فقام ذلك الأعرابي، أو رجل غيره، فقال: يا رسول الله! تهدم البناء، وغرق المال، فادع الله لنا، فرفع رسول الله ﷺ يديه وقال: اللهم حوالينا ولا علينا، فما جعل يشير بيده إلى ناحية من السماء إلا تفرجت حتى صارت المدينة في مثل الجوبة، حتى سال الوادي- وادي قناة- شهرا، قال: فلم يجئ أحد من ناحية إلا حدث بالجود.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Prayer for Rain (1033), and Muslim in the Book of Prayer for Rain (9/897), both through Uzai, who said, Ishaq bin Abdullah bin Abu Talha Ansari told us, who said, Anas bin Malik told me, and he related it, and the wording given is Bukhari's. Muslim's wording is similar.In a narration recorded by Muslim, through another route, from Thabit Bunani, from Anas, who said, The Prophet ﷺ was delivering the Friday sermon, when the people rose up to him and cried out, saying, "O Prophet of Allah, the rain has stopped, the trees have turned red, and the livestock are perishing," and he continued the hadith.It also states, Then it cleared away from Madinah, and began to rain around it, while not a single drop fell on Madinah itself. I looked at Madinah, and it was like a crown surrounded by rain.In another narration, I saw the clouds tearing apart as if they were a cloak being folded.In another narration, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ uncovered his garment until the rain touched him. We said, "O Messenger of Allah, why did you do this?" He said, "Because it has just come from its Lord, Exalted is He."His saying, "qazaah" (with fatha on the qaf and the zay) means scattered clouds.His saying, "until we saw the rain trickling down his beard" indicates that the roof was made of palm branches.His saying, "like a jawbah" (with fatha on the jim), which is a wide, round hollow, means here the gap in the clouds.Khattabi said, What is meant by "jawbah" here is a shield.Nawawi said, It is the gap, meaning that the clouds broke away from Madinah and became a circle around it, while it remained clear of them.His saying, "Wadi Qanah" (with fatha on the qaf), is land with farms in the area of Uhud, and its valley is one of the well-known valleys of Madinah, as stated in Fath al-Bari.Nawawi said, Wadi Qanah is the name of one of the valleys of Madinah, on which they had farms, so it was attributed to itself. In Bukhari's narration it says, "the valley flowed, Wadi Qanah," in apposition.His saying, "except it produced abundant rain (jawd)" (with fatha on the jim), means heavy rainfall.His saying, "the trees turned red" is a figure of speech for their leaves drying up and their bare wood showing through.His saying, "taqashshaat" means it cleared away.His saying, "like a crown (ikleel)" (with kasra on the hamza) is a band, and it is applied to anything that encircles something, as stated in Nawawi's commentary. A crown is called "ikleel" because it encircles the head.His saying, "as if it were a cloak (mulaa) being folded," "mulaa" (with damma on the mim, and elongated), whose singular is "mulaah" (with damma and elongation), is a wrap like a cloak, as stated in Nawawi's commentary, resembling the wrap a woman covers herself with. Its meaning is a comparison between the clouds breaking apart and gathering back together, and an unfolded cloak being folded up.His saying, "the Messenger of Allah ﷺ uncovered (hasar) his garment," the meaning of "hasar" is to expose, that is, he exposed part of his body so that the rain would touch it.