an old man who was guarding the coast told me: I met Abu Salih, the freed slave of ʿUmar bin al-Khattab ؓ and he said, ʿUmar bin al-Khattab ؓ told us that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “There is no night in which the sea does not approach the land three times and ask Allah for permission to flood it, but Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, restrains it.ʿ
عَنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ أَنَّهُ قَالَ لَيْسَ مِنْ لَيْلَةٍ إِلَّا وَالْبَحْرُ يُشْرِفُ فِيهَا ثَلاثَ مَرَّاتٍ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ يَسْتَأْذِنُ اللهَ فِي أَنْ يَنْفَضِخَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَيَكُفُّهُ اللهُ ﷻ