From the slave of Allah ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab Amir al-Mu’minin to the Nile of Egyp
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
From the slave of Allah ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab Amir al-Mu’minin to the Nile of Egypt
Shaykh narrated in Kitab al-‘Adhamah: Abu’t-Tib narrated to us: ‘Ali ibn Dawud narrated to us: ‘Abd al-Fattah ibn salih narrated to us: ‘Abdullah ibn Salih narrated to us: Ibn Lahi‘ah narrated to us from Qais ibn al-Hajjaj, from someone he related from, said: When Egypt was conquered, its people came to ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, when the first day of one of their months arrived, and they said to him, ‘Amir, this Nile of ours has a custom (sunnah) without which it does not flow.’ He asked, ‘And what is that?’ They said, ‘When eleven nights have elapsed of this month we seek a young virgin from her parents, we obtain the consent of the parents, then we dress her in the best possible clothing and ornaments, and then we throw her in this Nile.’ So ‘Amr said to them, ‘This will never be in Islam. Islam demolishes what precedes it.’ They left, and neither did the Nile flow a little nor a lot, so much so that they intended to emigrate. When ‘Amr saw that, he wrote to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab about it. He wrote back to him, ‘You were right in what you said. Truly, Islam demolishes what precedes it.’ He sent a slip of paper inside his letter and wrote to ‘Amr, ‘I have sent you a slip of paper inside my letter, so throw it in the Nile.’ When ‘Umar’s letter reached ‘Amr ibn al-‘As, he took the slip and opened it, and there was in it, ‘From the slave of Allah ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab Amir al-Mu’minin to the Nile of Egypt. Now, if you used to flow before, then don’t flow! If it was Allah who made you flow, then I ask the Overwhelming One to make you flow.’ He threw the slip into the Nile a day before (the Festival of) the Cross. They woke up in the morning, and Allah, Exalted is He, had made it flow (and it rose) sixteen cubits in one night. Allah cut off this sunnah (custom) of the people of Egypt right up to this day.Umar ibn al-Khattab
from The History of the Khalifahs by Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti