Musnad Imam Shafi'i

It is narrated from Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: When the mosque had a roof made of date-palm branches, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to lean against a trunk and pray, and he would stand by that trunk and deliver the sermon. One of the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! Shall we not make a pulpit for you so that you may stand on it on Fridays and people may listen to your sermon?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Alright." When this pulpit was made, it had three steps, and it was placed at the spot where the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was told to stand on it and deliver the sermon. When he passed by the trunk near which he used to deliver the sermon, it began to weep profusely until its voice broke with the intensity of its grief. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) heard the sound of the trunk (weeping), he descended from the pulpit and comforted the trunk, then returned to the pulpit. When the mosque was demolished, Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him) took the trunk, and it remained in his house until it decayed, was eaten by termites, and became dust.

Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that when the Prophet ﷺ delivered a sermon, he would lean against one of the trunks among the pillars of the mosque. When a pulpit was made for him ﷺ and he sat upon it, this trunk became restless like a young camel becomes restless, to the extent that the people of the mosque heard its restlessness, until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came down from the pulpit and comforted it (showed it affection).

It is narrated from Abu Hazim that he states he asked Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) what the pulpit of the Prophet ﷺ was made of. Sahl bin Sa’d (may Allah be pleased with him) replied: “Among the living, no one knows this better than I do. It was made from the wood of the tamarisk tree of Ghaba. The freed slave of such-and-such woman made it. And I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he sat on it, he faced the Qiblah, then said the takbir, then recited (Qur’an), then bowed (ruku’), then stepped down and prostrated (sajdah), then ascended the pulpit and recited, then bowed, then stepped down and prostrated.”