high value of the creatures of the world, and show to man and jinn the way to eternal happiness and save them from everlasting extinction, and solve the obscure talisman of the world and riddle of the wisdom in its creation, and would know and make known the purposes of the universe’s Creator, and recognize the Creator and acquaint Him to all men – before such a one appeared, surely everything, all species and realms of beings would be happy at his coming, would await him and welcome and applaud him, and if his coming was made known to them by their Creator, they in turn would announce it. Indeed, we saw in the above Signs and examples how each realm of creature displayed his miracles as if welcoming him, and confirmed his prophethood through the tongue of miracles.
SEVENTEENTH SIGN
After the Qur’an, the greatest miracle of God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was his own self. That is, the elevated moral virtues brought together in his person, which as friend and foe agreed was in all respects of the very highest degree. A hero of the greatest bravery, ‘Ali, said again and again: “Whenever the fighting grew fierce, we would take refuge behind God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace).”1 Like this, his was the highest and unattainable degree of all praiseworthy qualities. For this greatest miracle, we refer readers to the al-Shifa’ al-Sharif of Qadi Iyad, the learned scholar of the Maghrib, for he described and proved beautifully this miracle of praiseworthy moral qualities.
A further great miracle of Muhammad (UWBP) which is verified by friend and foe alike is his illustrious Shari‘a, the like of which neither came before it nor will come after it. For a partial explanation of it, we refer readers to the thirty-three Words, thirty-three Letters, thirty-one Flashes, and thirteen Rays which we have written.
Among his greatest miracles, a certain one, the many reports of which are unanimous, is the Splitting of the Moon. This miracle is related through many chains of transmission from many of the leading Companions like Ibn Mas‘ud, Ibn ‘Abbas, Ibn ‘Umar, ‘Ali, Anas, and Hudhayfa. In addition, the Qur’an announced this supreme miracle to the whole world with the verse:
The Hour is nigh, and the moon split.(54:1)
The obdurate idolators of the Quraysh at that time could not deny what this
Musnad, i, 86; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 143; Kanz al-‘Ummal, xii, 419.