Musnad Ahmad

It is narrated from Hazrat Suhaib (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray, his lips would move, but we could not understand anything from it, nor did the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explain anything to us. Later, he said that among the previous nations, there was a prophet who became content and pleased with the number of his followers, and these words came out of his mouth: "These people can never be defeated." Allah Almighty then sent revelation to him and gave him the choice of one of three things: either I will impose an enemy upon them who will cause them to fear, or I will impose hunger upon them, or death? He consulted his people about this. They said, "You are Allah's prophet; we leave this matter to you. You may prefer any one of the options." So he stood up to pray, and it was the practice of the noble prophets (peace be upon them) that whenever any difficulty befell them, they would turn towards prayer. Anyway, after finishing the prayer, he said, "We do not have the strength for killing and hunger, but let death be imposed upon us." The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "In just three days, seventy thousand of their people died." Therefore, I now say: "O Allah! I seek strategy only with Your help, I attack only with Your help, and I fight only with Your help. The ability to avoid sin and to do good deeds comes only from Allah." The previous hadith is also narrated through this second chain.