Lu'lu' wal-Marjan

Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent us with three hundred horsemen and appointed Abu Ubaidah bin Al-Jarrah as our leader so that we might search for the trade caravan of the Quraysh. We camped on the seashore for fifteen days, and during this journey, we faced severe hunger and starvation, to the extent that we survived by eating the leaves of the acacia tree. That is why this army was called the "Army of Leaves." Then, by chance, the sea threw out for us an animal like a fish onto the shore; its name was "Amber" (whale). We ate it for fifteen days and used its fat as oil (on our bodies), and our strength and vigor returned. Later, Abu Ubaidah (may Allah be pleased with him) took out one of its ribs and set it upright, and the tallest man in the army was made to ride a camel and pass under it, and he passed beneath it. Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that one man from the army first slaughtered three camels, then three more, and when he slaughtered three camels for the third time, Abu Ubaidah (may Allah be pleased with him) stopped him, because if all the camels had been slaughtered, how would the journey have continued?