It is related that in the sixth year after the Flight there happened to be a great famine and tremendous dearth in Madinah. The Musalmâns accordingly made haste to wait upon the prince of the world, and said: ‘O apostle of God, the portals of abundance are closed, and the showers of mercy have ceased, so that great damage has befallen the fruit-trees; the cattle and other quadrupeds are perishing; and the people have fallen from comfort into misery, and from cheerfulness into distress. We beseech thee to ask the Bounteous Giver to refresh and to irrigate with the showers of His favour and goodness the garden of hopes of those who are wandering in the desert of exclusion.’ Therefore the apostle of God ordered the people on a certain day to take provisions with them and to accompany him to the desert, for the purpose of praying for rain. On the appointed day his lordship donned old garments and proceeded with all humility and solemnity to the spot, where he performed two flexions with prayers, not using the [customary] formality of calling the people to prayers through the Muedhdhin. During the first prayer-flexion he recited the chapter ‘Praise the name of thy Most High Lord,’* and during the second ‘Hath the news of the overwhelming day [of judgment] reached thee?’* in a loud voice. When he had terminated his prayers he turned his face towards the companions, and inverted his pure Redâ, for a good omen, that famine might be changed to abundance and wealth. He raised his blessed hands and shouted one Takbir, uttering after that his prayer for rain with his wonderfully eloquent tongue. The narrator of this tradition says: ‘We were yet in that place when a small cloud appeared on the sky, which unfolded itself, shedding abundant rain in such a manner that it never ceased during seven days and nights, after the expiration of which time the professors of Islâm said: “O apostle of God, our goods are spoiled, our houses are falling to pieces, and intercourse between the people has ceased. Lift up thy hands in prayer, that the Lord and Creator cause the rain to cease and the world-illuminating sun to shine.” His holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—being astonished at the inconsistency of mankind, smiled so as to show his blessed molar teeth, and then, turning his exalted countenance to the Qiblah of prayer, said: “O God, rain for us, and not upon us. [Rain] on the tops of hills and bottoms of valleys and the roots of plants.” When his lordship had completed the prayers, the sky immediately cleared up, and Madinah was lit by the rays of the world-illuminating sun, so that in and around the city not one drop more fell.’ It is related that when the apostle of God saw that it was [still] raining in the environs of Mekkah he laughed so [heartily] as to display his teeth, and said: ‘May God the Most High reward Abu Tâleb, for if he were alive he would rejoice at the verses he had composed, and would possibly recite them to us likewise.’ A’li B. Abu Tâleb said: ‘O apostle of God, perhaps thou wantest these verses?’ Then he began to recite the verses of Abu Tâleb, and some biographers state that their interpretation is as follows:
‘God has given rain to us thirsty ones
To favour the prophet of genii and men;
By it our orphans were fed,
By it our cattle were watered;
The Bani Hâshem are under his protection,
They all wish for his exaltation and dignity.
In every battle Muhammad was victorious,
God aided him with conquest;
We shall never abandon him,
Even if we be killed around him.’
According to the statements of all biographers and historians, the circumambulation of the house of the Ka’bah became obligatory during this year, and in confirmation thereof they add that the blessed verse ‘Perform the pilgrimage [of Mekkah] and the visitation of Allah’* was revealed in the sixth year. The word ‘perform’ means ‘to stay,’ and not ‘to complete.’ Some, however, assert that it was made obligatory in the ninth year; but to discuss the claims [to credence] of these two parties is not suitable in this place.