25. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from ibn Abu ‘Umayr from Muhammad ibn Humran from Aban ibn Taghlib who has said the following:

“Abu ‘Abdallah has said, ‘When the fellow from Ethiopia marched with horses and elephants to destroy the Ka‘ba they passed by the camels of ‘Abd al-Muttalib and they herded them together. When ‘Abd al-Muttalib learned about it, he went to the man from Ethiopia and asked permission for a meeting. His men told him that ‘Abd al-Muttalib ibn Hashim asks permission for a meeting. He said, ‘What does he want?’ The translator said, ‘He has come asking that his camels be released.’ The king of Ethiopia said to his people, ‘This is the leader and the chief of the people here. I have come to destroy his house of worship but asks me to order the release of his camels. Had he asked me not to destroy the house I might have agreed. Release his camels.’

‘Abd al-Muttalib asked the translator, ‘What did the king say?’ When the words of the king were explained to him, he said, ‘I am the lord of the camels. The house has a lord who is to protect it. His camels were released and ‘Abd al-Muttalib returned home. He passed by the elephant on his way home. He said to the elephant, “O Mahmud. The elephant shook his head. Then he said, ‘Do you know why they have brought you here?’ The elephant said by shaking his head, ‘No, I do not know.’ ‘Abd al-Muttalib said, ‘They have brought you to destroy the house of your Lord. Will you do so?’ The elephant by shaking his head said, ‘I will not do so.’ ‘Abd al-Muttalib returned home. The next morning they tried to make the elephant enter the Holy precinct to destroy it, but the elephant refused.

‘Abd al-Muttalib at that time said to one of his servants, "Climb up the hill and see if you can observe anything." He said, ‘I can see black spots in the direction of the sea (in the air).’ He asked, ‘Do you see all of it?’ He said, “Not all of it but almost. When the black spots came closer he said, ‘They are a great many birds. I can see that every bird has a pebble in his beak of the size thrown with a finger.’ ‘Abd al-Muttalib said, ‘I swear by my Lord that the birds aim only at those people.’ When the birds arrived over their (The invading army) heads they threw the pebble on their heads and every pebble fell on top of their skulls and pierced its way down to their bottom end and left them dead. Only one man was left alive who went with the news to the others. When he gave them the news a pebble fell on his head and killed him.’”