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It’s been recorded in Hujjatullahi ala al-Alameen and Taarikh Ibn Asaakir that 1,000 years before the arrival of the Holy Prophet SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam, the King of Yemen (Tabaa Awwal Hamīri) assembled 12,000 of his scholars and officials, 132,000 horsemen, and 113,000 foot soldiers to accompany him on a tour of his kingdom. During this expedition, they arrived in the city of Makkah and were surprised to find none of its residents interested in coming out to salute them. When the king enquired from his officials as to the reason for this, his prime-minister responded,

“There’s a structure in this city called ‘the House of Allah SubHanuhu wa Ta'ala’ which people from all over – way more than this army, in fact – come to pay their respects towards and to the city’s residents. Why then would they concern themselves with this measly procession?”

The king became infuriated upon hearing this and swore,

“I’ll tear that structure down and have all of these people killed!”

He then suddenly found blood emerging from his eyes, nose and mouth (along with a liquid so horrendous in smell that no-one in his company could bear sitting next to him). After seeking help from his numerous doctors to cure this condition of his (all to no avail), one of his priests finally stepped forward and said,

“O King! This sickness is from the Heavens, while we possess cures only from the Earth. The only way to rid yourself of it is to seek forgiveness for any bad intention you may have had recently.”

So, the king repented from his earlier plans against the Kaaba and the Makkans and immediately found his condition return to its normal state again! Unable to contain his happiness, he then ordered for a silk covering to be prepared and draped over the Kaaba, before presenting every resident of the city with wealth and some silk clothing.

The army then proceeded to Madinah al-Munawwarah. Upon their arrival, those that were scholars of the Heavenly Books examined its sand, stones and landscape and immediately recognized the area to be the future residence of the Final Prophet SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam. For this reason, they turned to their king and said,

“We’d rather die than leave this city! Should fortune favour us, the Final Messenger will one day arrive and bless us with his companionship. Otherwise, the sand from his feet will surely land on our graves, and this will be sufficient for our salvation.”

So, the king built 400 houses for them in the city, and in the region of his chief-priest’s residence, he constructed a few houses better than the others (intending that when the Holy Prophet SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam did arrive, he’d choose to stay in one of them). After then giving them enough money to begin their new lives, the king gave a letter to his main priest with the following instruction,

“Give this to the Prophet if you see him in your lifetime. If not, keep it in your family until he arrives.”

This letter passed from generation to generation in the priest’s family (for 1,000 years) until it finally came into the hands of the famous Companion, Hadrat Abu Ayyub al-Ansaari Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhu (who requested his servant, Abu Layla, to safeguard it). Written in it was the following,