The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent out an expedition toward the coast, placing Abu Ubayda bin al-Jarrah in command over them. They numbered three hundred, and I was among them.We set out, and when we had covered part of the journey, our provisions ran out. Abu Ubayda then ordered that the provisions of the entire army be gathered together. All of it amounted to two bags of dates. He would ration this out to us little by little each day until it too was exhausted, and we were each receiving only a single date.I asked, "What good is one date?"He replied, "We truly felt its loss when it ran out."Then we reached the sea, and there we found a fish as large as a small hill. The army ate from it for eighteen nights. Then Abu Ubayda ordered that two of its ribs be set up, and they were erected. He then ordered that a camel be saddled and made to pass beneath them, and it passed through without touching them.
بعث رسول الله ﷺ بعثا قبل الساحل، فأمر عليهم أبا عبيدة بن الجراح، وهم ثلاثمائة. قال: وأنا فيهم. فخرجنا حتى إذا كنا ببعض الطريق فني الزاد، فأمر أبو عبيدة بأزواد ذلك الجيش، فجمع ذلك كله، فكان مزودي تمر. قال: فكان يقوتناه كل يوم قليلا قليلا حتى فني، فلم يكن يصيبنا إلا تمرة تمرة. فقلت: وما يغنى تمرة؟ فقال: لقد وجدنا فقدها حين فنيت. قال: ثم انتهينا إلى البحر فإذا حوت مثل الظرب، فأكل منه ذلك الجيش ثماني عشرة ليلة، ثم أمر أبو عبيدة بضلعين من أضلاعه، فنصبا، ثم أمر برا فرحلت، ثم مرت تحتهما، فلم تصبهما.
Malik narrated it in the chapter on the description of the Prophet ﷺ (24), from Wahb bin Kaysan, from Jabir bin Abdullah, that he said, and then he mentioned it.Bukhari narrated it in the chapter on partnership (2483), from Abdullah bin Yusuf, who said, Malik informed us, with the same wording.Muslim narrated it in the chapter on hunting and slaughtered animals (1935:21), by way of Abdul-Rahman bin Mahdi, from Malik, with the same content but abridged, and he also related it in full by way of Abu Zubayr, from Jabir.