al-Bara’ b. `Azib informed me. He said: When the Messenger of Allah (s) ordered for the trench (al-khandaq) to be dug, a great boulder appeared across the trench that could not be broken with a pickaxe. So, the Messenger of Allah (s) came, and when he saw it, he took off his robe, picked up the pickaxe, and said: “In the name of Allah” and struck it once. He broke off a third of it. He said: “Allah is the Greatest. I have been given the keys to the Levant. By Allah, I see its red palaces at this moment.” Then, he struck it a second time and said: “In the name of Allah” and another third of it split off. So, he said: “Allah is the Greatest. I have been given the keys to Persia. By Allah, I see the white palaces of al-Mada’in.” Then, he struck it a third time, and the remainder of the boulder came apart. He said: “Allah is the Greatest. I have been given the keys to Yemen. By Allah, I see the gates of Sanaa from my place here.”