the Elder, Marbad ibn Sa'd ibn 'Ufayr (who was a Muslim hiding his faith), and Jalhamah ibn al-Khabiri (the close companion of Mu'awiyah ibn Bakr and brother of his mother). Then they sent Athman ibn 'Ad ibn Fulan ibn Milan ibn Didd ibn 'Ad the Elder. Each man from among these people set out with a group from his tribe until the count of their delegation reached seventy men. When they arrived at Makkah, they stayed with Mu'awiyah ibn Bakr, who was at the outskirts of Makkah, outside the Sacred Precinct [Haram]. He accommodated them and honored them, for they were his maternal uncles and in-laws, and Huzaylah bint Bakr was the sister of Mu'awiyah from both his father and mother. When the delegation of 'Ad settled with Mu'awiyah ibn Bakr, they stayed with him for a month, drinking wine while the two Jaradatayn (two singing maids of Mu'awiyah ibn Bakr) sang for them. Their journey had taken a month, and their stay lasted a month. When Mu'awiyah saw their continued stay—when their people had sent them to seek succor from the affliction that had befallen them—it troubled him, and he said: "My maternal uncles and in-laws have perished, while these [men] are staying with me, as my guests, descending upon me. By Allah, I do not know how to act regarding them. I am ashamed to order them to leave for the mission they were sent for, lest they think it is because I am weary of their stay with me." Meanwhile, their people behind them had perished from distress and thirst. Then they [the delegation] left for Makkah to seek rain for 'Ad. When they turned toward Makkah, Allah created three clouds: white, red, and black. Then a caller called out from the clouds: "O Qayl, choose for yourself and your people from these clouds." Qayl said: "I have chosen the black cloud, for it is the one with the most water." A caller then called out to him: "You have chosen a scorching ash that leaves not one of 'Ad [remaining], neither parent nor child, but it turns them into ruins, except for the sons of al-Lawdhiyyah the gifted." Hud, it is mentioned to me, withdrew with those who were with him from the believers into an enclosure; none of it reached him or the believers with him, save for that which softens the skin and brings delight to the soul. It would pass over 'Ad with gusts between the sky and the earth, striking them with stones.

15840 - My father narrated to us, [saying]: Al-Hakam ibn Musa narrated to us, [saying]: Al-Walid narrated to us, [saying]: Ibn 'Ajlan narrated to us, [saying]: 'Awn ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Utbah [narrated] that when Abu al-Darda' saw what the Muslims had built in al-Ghuta, in terms of buildings and planting trees, he stood in their mosque and called out: "O people of Damascus!" They gathered around him, and he praised Allah and extolled Him, then said: "Do you not feel shame? Do you not feel shame? You gather what you do not eat, you build what you do not inhabit, and you hope for what you do not attain. There were generations before you who gathered and amassed, built and fortified, and hoped and lingered; yet their hope became delusion, their gathering became ruin, and their dwellings became graves. Know that 'Ad possessed everything between Aden and 'Oman in terms of horses and mounts. Who will buy from me the inheritance of 'Ad for two dirhams?"