Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 13910

It is reported about Sayyiduna Abbas bin Mirdas al-Sulami (may Allah be pleased with him): The story of his acceptance of Islam is that he was among his she-camels at a place called Ghamrah at midday. Meanwhile a white ostrich, like cotton, appeared before him; a man was riding on it, wearing white clothes like cotton. He said: "O Abbas bin Mirdas! Have you not seen that the sky has drawn back its guards, that war has breathed its last breaths, that the saddle-cloths have been taken off the horses, and that the religion has come down which comes with righteousness and guidance? It happened on Monday, the night of Tuesday: the one who is the man of the she-camel." The narrator says: I left that place in a state of alarm; what I had heard and what I had seen had frightened me. Until I came to our idol, whose name was Dimad. We used to worship it, and a voice used to come from inside its belly. I swept around it, passed my hand over it and kissed it. Meanwhile someone cried out from inside its belly: "O Abbas bin Mirdas! Say to all the (smaller) tribes of Sulaym (the great tribe): Dimad has perished and the people of the mosque have succeeded. That man from Quraysh who has brought prophethood and guidance after Sayyiduna Isa bin Maryam, he is the rightly guided one. Dimad has perished; it was worshipped for a time, until blessings were invoked upon the Prophet, Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)." The narrator says: I left that place in a state of alarm, until I came to my people; I narrated the whole incident to them and told them the whole matter. Then I set out riding with three hundred men of my people, Banu Harithah, and came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). We entered the mosque. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw me, he (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled, and then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abbas bin Mirdas! How did your Islam come about?" I narrated the whole incident to him, and he said: "You have spoken the truth." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was pleased at that. The narrator says: So I and my people accepted Islam.
Al-Tabarani recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Laythi, whom the majority declared da'if (weak), while Sa'id bin Mansur called him thiqah (trustworthy), saying: Malik was pleased with him. The rest of the narrators of this narration have been declared trustworthy.