Sahih Muslim Book - 34, Hadith - 4999

حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ الْجَبَّارِ بْنُ الْعَلاَءِ ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ ، قَالَ : سَمِعَ عَمْرٌو ، جَابِرَ بْنَ عَبْدِ اللهِ ، يَقُولُ: بَعَثَنَا رَسُولُ اللهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَنَحْنُ ثَلاَثُ مِئَةِ رَاكِبٍ ، وَأَمِيرُنَا أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ بْنُ الْجَرَّاحِ ، نَرْصُدُ عِيرًا لِقُرَيْشٍ ، فَأَقَمْنَا بِالسَّاحِلِ نِصْفَ شَهْرٍ ، فَأَصَابَنَا جُوعٌ شَدِيدٌ حَتَّى أَكَلْنَا الْخَبَطَ ، فَسُمِّيَ جَيْشَ الْخَبَطِ ، فَأَلْقَى لَنَا الْبَحْرُ دَابَّةً يُقَالُ لَهَا الْعَنْبَرُ ، فَأَكَلْنَا مِنْهَا نِصْفَ شَهْرٍ ، وَادَّهَنَّا مِنْ وَدَكِهَا حَتَّى ثَابَتْ أَجْسَامُنَا ، قَالَ : فَأَخَذَ أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ ضِلَعًا مِنْ أَضْلاَعِهِ فَنَصَبَهُ ، ثُمَّ نَظَرَ إِلَى أَطْوَلِ رَجُلٍ فِي الْجَيْشِ وَأَطْوَلِ جَمَلٍ فَحَمَلَهُ عَلَيْهِ ، فَمَرَّ تَحْتَهُ ، قَالَ : وَجَلَسَ فِي حَجَاجِ عَيْنِهِ نَفَرٌ ، قَالَ: وَأَخْرَجْنَا مِنْ وَقْبِ عَيْنِهِ كَذَا وَكَذَا قُلَّةَ وَدَكٍ ، قَالَ: وَكَانَ مَعَنَا جِرَابٌ مِنْ تَمْرٍ ، فَكَانَ أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ يُعْطِي كُلَّ رَجُلٍ مِنَّا قَبْضَةً قَبْضَةً ، ثُمَّ أَعْطَانَا تَمْرَةً تَمْرَةً ، فَلَمَّا فَنِيَ وَجَدْنَا فَقْدَهُ.

'Amr heard Jabir bin 'Abdullah say: "The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) sent us, three hundred riders, with Abu 'Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah in charge, to keep a lookout for the caravan of the Quraish. We stayed on the coast for half a month, and we were stricken with such intense hunger that we ate leaves, and it was called the Army of Leaves. Then the sea threw out to us a beast called Al-'Anbar (sperm whale) and we ate from it for half a month and rubbed its fat on our bodies, until our bodies grew strong. Abu 'Ubaidah took one of its ribs and set it up, then he looked for the tallest man in the army and the tallest camel. He mounted the man on the camel, and he passed beneath it. And a number of men sat in its eye socket, and we extracted such and such number of pitchers of fat from its eye socket. 'Abu 'Ubaidah used to give each one of us a handful of dates at a time, then he gave us one date at a time, and when he ran out we felt its loss."