حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ عَمْرٍو، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ جَابِرًا، يَقُولُ بَعَثَنَا النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ثَلاَثَمِائَةِ رَاكِبٍ وَأَمِيرُنَا أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ نَرْصُدُ عِيرًا لِقُرَيْشٍ فَأَصَابَنَا جُوعٌ شَدِيدٌ حَتَّى أَكَلْنَا الْخَبَطَ، فَسُمِّيَ جَيْشَ الْخَبَطِ وَأَلْقَى الْبَحْرُ حُوتًا يُقَالُ لَهُ الْعَنْبَرُ فَأَكَلْنَا نِصْفَ شَهْرٍ وَادَّهَنَّا بِوَدَكِهِ حَتَّى صَلَحَتْ أَجْسَامُنَا قَالَ فَأَخَذَ أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ ضِلَعًا مِنْ أَضْلاَعِهِ فَنَصَبَهُ فَمَرَّ الرَّاكِبُ تَحْتَهُ، وَكَانَ فِينَا رَجُلٌ فَلَمَّا اشْتَدَّ الْجُوعُ نَحَرَ ثَلاَثَ جَزَائِرَ، ثُمَّ ثَلاَثَ جَزَائِرَ، ثُمَّ نَهَاهُ أَبُو عُبَيْدَةَ‏.‏

The Prophet (ﷺ) sent us as an army unit of three hundred warriors under the command of Abu 'Ubaida to ambush a caravan of the Quraish. But we were struck with such severe hunger that we ate the Khabt (desert bushes), so our army was called the Army of the Khabt. Then the sea threw a huge fish called Al-`Anbar and we ate of it for half a month and rubbed our bodies with its fat till our bodies became healthy. Then Abu Ubaida took one of its ribs and fixed it over the ground and a rider passed underneath it. There was a man amongst us who slaughtered three camels when hunger became severe, and he slaughtered three more, but after that Abu 'Ubaida forbade him to do so.