Les gens de Salih, que la paix soit sur lui

213. Ali Bin Ibrahim, from his father, from Al-Hassan Bin Mahboub, from Abu Hamza, who has narrated the following: Abu Ja’far (asws) having said: ‘The Messenger (saww) asked Jibraeel (as): ‘How were the people of Saleh (as) destroyed?’ So he said: ‘O Muhammad (saww)! Saleh (as) was Sent to his (as) people when he was sixteen years old. So he (saww) was with them until he (as) reached the age of one hundred and twenty years, they did not answer him (as) to the good. And they had for themselves seventy idols which they worshipped apart from Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic. So when he (as) saw that among them, he (as) said: ‘O people! I (as) was Sent to you all when I (as) was sixteen years old, and I (as) have now reached one hundred and twenty years, and I (as) present to you all two matters. If you like you can ask me until I (as) ask my (as) God (azwj) so He (azwj) would Answer you with regards to what you have asked me of within a short while. And if you like, I (as) would ask your gods, so if they answer me (as) by that which I (as) have asked them of, I (as) would go away from you all. So I (as) would have silenced you all and you would have silenced me (as)’. They said, ‘You (as) are being fair, O Saleh (as)’. So they prepared for the day that they will be going out for it. So they went out with their idols upon their backs, and prepared their food and drinks. So they ate and drank. When they finished, they called him (as) over. They said, ‘O Saleh (as)! Ask!’. So he (as) said to their elder: ‘What is the name of this one?’ He said, ‘Such and such’. So he (as) said to it: ‘O such and such! Answer me (as)!’ So it did not answer him (as)’. So Saleh (as) said: ‘What is the matter with it that it does not answer?’ They said, ‘Ask another one’. So he (as) asked all of them by their names, but they did not answer him (as) anything. So they turned towards their idols and said to them: ‘What is the matter with you all that you do not answer Saleh (as)?’ They did not answer. So they said, ‘Step away from us and leave us and our idols for a while’. Then they unrolled their rugs, and their furnishings, and their clothes, and wallowed upon the dust, and placed dust upon their heads, and said to their idols, ‘If you do not answer Saleh (as) today, you will be exposed’. Then they called him (as) over, so they said, ‘O Saleh (as)! Call to these (idols)’. So he (as) called upon them. They did not answer him (as). So he (as) said to them: ‘O People! Half the morning has passed and I (as) have not seen your gods to have answered me (as). So ask me (as), and I (as) shall ask my (as) God (azwj), and He (azwj) will Answer you shortly’. Seventy men from their elders were delegated to him (as) from the approved ones from among them, so they said, ‘O Saleh (as)! We ask you, so if your (as) Lord (azwj) were to answer us, we would follow you (as) and answer to you (as), and pledge our allegiances to you (as), all the people of our town altogether’. So Saleh (as) said to them: ‘Ask me (as) whatsoever you like’. So they said, ‘Walk with us towards this mountain’, and the mountain was quite near to them. So Saleh (as) went with them. When he (as) came up to the mountain, they said, ‘O Saleh (as)! Call upon your (as) Lord (azwj) for us, to bring out for us from this mountain this very moment, a blonde, tame, red she-camel with a distance of a mile between the two sides of the mountain’. So Saleh (as) said to them: ‘You have asked me (as) for something which is great for me (as), and is easy for my (as) Lord (azwj) Majestic and Mighty’. Saleh (as) asked Allah (azwj) the High for that. The mountain split asunder with such a split that their intellects took flight when they heard that rumble of it. Then the mountain trembled with a great tremble like a woman trembling during labour. Then only its head came out of the crack in the mountain. When its neck showed, it began to chew its cud. Then the rest of its body came out, and it stood erect upon the ground. So when they all saw that, they said, ‘O Saleh (as), with what ease has your (as) Lord (azwj) Answered you (as). Call upon your (as) Lord (azwj) for us to bring out for us its young’. So he (as) asked Allah (azwj) Mighty and Majestic for that. She brought it (babies) out and walked around them. So he (as) said to them: ‘O people! Does there remain anything else?’ They said, ‘No. Come with us to our people. We shall inform them of what we have seen and they will believe in you (as)’. So they returned, but before the seventy of them could reach them, sixty four of them had reneged, and they were saying, This is sorcery and a lie’. This was reflected by all of them. So the remaining six were saying that it is the truth, whilst all the others were saying that it is a lie and sorcery. Then they all dispersed upon that, and one of the six then was overcome by doubt. So he was the one who slay it. Ibn Mahboub (the narrator) said, ‘I narrated this Hadeeth to a man from our companions called Saeed Bin Yazeed. He informed me that he had seen the mountain from which (the she-camel) came out, in Syria. He said, ‘I saw its sides where the mountain split up, and the impact of it on its sides and the other side of it, and in between it and this one was a distance of a mile’.

Le Messager d'Allah (que la prière d'Allah et Son salut soient sur lui) a demandé à Gabriel (que la paix soit sur lui) comment le peuple de Salih (que la paix soit sur lui) a été détruit. Gabriel a répondu: "Ô Muhammad, Salih a été envoyé à son peuple à l'âge de seize ans et il est resté parmi eux jusqu'à l'âge de cent vingt ans sans qu'ils ne répondent favorablement. Ils adoraient soixante-dix idoles en dehors d'Allah. Quand il a vu cela parmi eux, il leur a dit: 'Ô mon peuple, je vous ai été envoyé à l'âge de seize ans et j'ai atteint l'âge de cent vingt ans. Je vous propose deux choses: si vous le souhaitez, demandez-moi jusqu'à ce que je demande à mon Seigneur et qu'Il vous réponde sur ce que vous m'avez demandé, ou si vous le souhaitez, je demanderai à vos idoles. Si elles me répondent sur ce que je leur demande, je me détournerai de vous et vous vous lasserez de moi.' Ils ont dit: 'Tu as été juste, ô Salih, alors fixe un jour pour nous.' Ils sont sortis avec leurs idoles sur leurs dos, puis ils ont approché leur nourriture et leur boisson, ils ont mangé et bu. Quand ils ont fini, Salih les a appelés, mais ils ont dit: 'Ô Salih, demande à celle-ci.' Salih a demandé au plus grand d'entre eux: 'Quel est ton nom?' Ils ont répondu: 'Un tel.' Salih lui a dit: 'Ô Un tel, réponds.' Mais il ne lui a pas répondu. Salih a dit: 'Il ne répond pas.' Ils ont dit: 'Demande à une autre.' Il a donc appelé chacune d'entre elles par leur nom, mais aucune d'entre elles ne lui a répondu. Alors ils se sont tournés vers leurs idoles et leur ont dit: 'Pourquoi ne réponds-tu pas à Salih?' Mais elles n'ont pas répondu. Ils ont dit: 'Écarte-toi de nous et laisse-nous et nos idoles pour un moment.' Puis ils se sont tournés vers leurs tapis et lits, se sont tournés vers leurs vêtements, se sont roulés dans la poussière et l'ont jetée sur leurs têtes, et ont dit à leurs idoles: 'Si tu ne réponds pas à Salih aujourd'hui, tu seras exposée.' Puis il les a appelés, mais ils ont dit: 'Ô Salih, appelle-la.' Il l'a donc appelée, mais elle ne lui a pas répondu. Il leur a dit: 'Ô mon peuple, le jour est passé et je ne vois pas vos idoles me répondre. Demandez-moi jusqu'à ce que je demande à mon Dieu et qu'Il vous réponde sur ce que vous m'avez demandé.' Alors soixante-dix hommes parmi les plus âgés et les plus respectés d'entre eux se sont portés volontaires et ont dit: 'Ô Salih, nous te demandons, et si ton Seigneur te répond, nous te suivrons, te croirons et tous les habitants de notre village te prêteront allégeance.' Salih leur a dit: 'Demandez-moi ce que vous voulez.' Ils ont dit: 'Avance avec nous vers cette montagne.' La montagne était proche d'eux. Salih est parti avec eux. Quand ils sont arrivés à la montagne, ils ont dit: 'Ô Salih, implore ton Seigneur de faire sortir de cette montagne une chamelle rougeâtre, blonde et blanche, ayant dix mois entre les deux yeux.' Salih leur a dit: 'Vous me demandez quelque chose qui me semble difficile et qui est facile pour mon Seigneur, le Majestueux et Glorieux.' Salih a