Another chain from him:

Ibn Jarīr said: Ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated to us; Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind narrated to us, from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, from Ibn ʿAbbās regarding the words of Allah, Most High:

“The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split in two. Yet if they see a sign, they turn away and say, ‘Persistent sorcery.’” (Q 54:1–2)

He said, “That has already taken place. Before the Hijrah the moon split until they could see its two halves.”

Al-ʿAwfī likewise reports from Ibn ʿAbbās something to the same effect.

The report is also transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās through another chain. Abū al-Qāsim al-Ṭabarānī said: Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr al-Bazzār told us; Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Qaṭīʿī told us; Muḥammad ibn Bukayr told us; Ibn Jurayj told us, from ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

“The moon was eclipsed in the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. The people said, ‘He has bewitched the moon!’ Thereupon the verse was revealed: ‘The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split…’ (Q 54:1–2).”

This chain is unusual. It may be that an eclipse occurred together with the splitting, which would indicate that the event happened on a night when the moon was full. Allah knows best.

Narration of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ and Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan the judge both informed us, saying: Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm related to us; al-ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad al-Dūrī related to us; Wahb ibn Jarīr related to us, from Shuʿbah, from al-Aʿmash, from Mujāhid, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb concerning the verse, “The Hour has drawn near and the moon has split” (Q 54:1). He said, “That occurred during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. It split into two halves—one half on this side of the mountain and the other on that side. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘O Allah, bear witness.’”

Muslim and al-Tirmidhī likewise record it—through several routes—from Shuʿbah, from al-Aʿmash, from Mujāhid. Muslim notes its agreement with the narration of Mujāhid, from Abū Maʿmar, from Ibn Masʿūd, and al-Tirmidhī comments, “Sound and authentic (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).”

Narration of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd

Imām Aḥmad said: Sufyān related to us, from Abū Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, from Abū Maʿmar, from Ibn Masʿūd, who said:

“The moon split into two during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, such that the people looked at it. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘Bear witness.’”