English translation
4360. Narrated Wahb bin Kaisān: Jābir bin 'Abdullāh رضي الله عنهم said: "Allāh's Messenger ﷺ sent troops to the sea-coast and appointed Abū 'Ubaida bin Al-Jarrāh as their commander, and they were 300 (men)." Jābir added: "We set out, and we had covered some distance on the way, our journey-food ran short. So Abū 'Ubaida ordered that all the food present with the troops be collected, and it was collected. Our journey-food was dates, and Abū 'Ubaida kept on giving us our daily ration from it little by little (piecemeal) till it decreased to such an extent that we did not receive except a date each." I asked (Jābir), "How could one date benefit you?" He said, "We came to know its value when even that finished." Jābir added, "Then we reached the sea (coast) where we found a fish like a small mountain. The people (i.e., troops) ate of it for 18 nights (i.e., days). Then Abū 'Ubaida ordered that two of its ribs be fixed on the ground (in the form of an arch) and that a she-camel be ridden and passed under them. So it passed under them without touching them."
