This, then, is even clearer and more compelling than the example that came before it. We have already cited this incident—at the Prophet’s ﷺ first entry into Mecca on the Day of the Conquest—together with its chains of transmission as recorded in the canonical collections and elsewhere; that presentation is sufficient for the purpose.

More than one scholar of sīrah has further related that the idols likewise collapsed at the very moment of his blessed birth, which is an even more powerful and eloquent miracle than breaking them by hand. We have already mentioned (1) that on that same night the sacred fire of the Persians, which they had worshipped, was extinguished even though it had not been quenched for a thousand years, and that fourteen battlements fell from the balconies of Kisrā’s palace—heralding the disappearance of their empire after the death of fourteen of their kings in rapid succession, though their rule had lasted nearly three thousand years.

As for Abraham’s (peace be upon him) reviving of the four birds, neither Abū Nuʿaym nor Ibn Ḥāmid records it. When we come to the discussion of Jesus (peace be upon him) bringing the dead to life, we shall note Muhammadan miracles of the same order—indeed, still greater—such as the restoration of the dead through the supplications of members of his community, the moaning of the palm-trunk, the greeting offered him by stone, tree, and clod, the speech of the roasted shoulder, and other marvels, as will be pointed out in its proper place.

Regarding the verse, “And thus We showed Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, so that he might be among those of certain faith” (Al-Anʿām 6:75) and the verses that follow it, Allah the Exalted has likewise said: “Glory be to Him Who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque—whose surroundings We have blessed—in order that We might show him some of Our signs. Truly, He alone is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing” (Al-Isrāʾ 17:1).

Ibn Ḥāmid mentions this, as I later discovered. In the ḥadiths of the Isrāʾ we have already detailed—both in this book and in the Qurʾānic commentary—what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ beheld that night: the signs between Mecca and Jerusalem, then between Jerusalem and the lowest heaven, followed by the wonders of the seven heavens and what lies beyond them—Sidrat al-Muntahā, the Garden of Refuge, and the Fire, an evil destination and abode. In the ḥadith of the dream, authenticated by Aḥmad and al-Tirmidhī among others, he ﷺ said: “Everything was unveiled to me, and I came to know it all.” (2)

Ibn Ḥāmid also draws a parallel between Allah’s testing of Jacob (peace be upon him) through the loss of his son Joseph, and Jacob’s patience and reliance on his Lord—exalted is He—and the death of Ibrāhīm, the son of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, together with the Prophet’s patience on that occasion and his words: “The eye weeps, the heart grieves, yet we say only what pleases our Lord. Indeed, O Ibrāhīm, we are deeply saddened by your departure.” (3)

I add: three of his daughters—Ruwayyah, Umm Kulthūm, and Zaynab—also died; and his uncle Ḥamzah, the Lion of Allah and the Lion of His Messenger, was slain at Uḥud. Still he bore all of this with patience and expectation of reward. As a counterpart to Joseph’s beauty, Ibn Ḥāmid mentions what has been reported of the beauty, stateliness, sweetness, form, benefit, guidance, manner, and blessedness of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, as already set forth in the traditions describing his noble qualities—just as al-Rubayyiʿ bint Muʿawwidh said: