No sensory miracle ever reported of any prophet surpasses this one, as we have already established with the supporting evidence from the Book and the Sunnah, both in the Qurʾanic commentary and in the section on the beginning of the Prophetic mission. (1) Allah knows best.
It is even greater than the momentary arrest of the sun for Joshua son of Nun so that he could complete the conquest on the night of Saturday, as will be discussed in its proper place.
We have already cited the lives of al-Alaʾ al-Hadrami, Abu ʿUbayd al-Thaqafi, and Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, and how the armies that marched with them crossed raging waters—among them the Tigris, a roaring torrent (2) that hurled timber in the force of its current—and we showed that this is, in several respects, more marvelous than the parting of the sea for Moses. Allah knows best.
Ibn Ḥāmid said: “If they object, ‘Moses (peace be upon him) struck the sea with his staff and it split; that was a sign granted to Moses,’ we reply: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was given its like.”
ʿAli (may Allah be pleased with him) related: “When we set out for Khaybar we came upon a precipitous valley; we measured it and found it to be fourteen men in depth. The people said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, the enemy is behind us and the valley is before us,’ just as the companions of Moses said, ‘Indeed, we will surely be overtaken.’ [26:61] The Messenger of Allah ﷺ dismounted and said, ‘O Allah, You have granted every messenger a token of proof—show me Your power.’ He then mounted, and the horses crossed without their hooves appearing, and the camels crossed without their soft soles showing. That crossing became the cause of victory.”
This account, however, is cited without a chain of transmission; I do not know it to appear in any of the dependable works with a sound, good, or even weak isnād. Allah knows best.
As for their being shaded by a cloud in the wilderness, we have already mentioned the hadith of the cloud (3) which Bahira saw shading him—while he was only twelve years old, travelling with his uncle Abu Talib to Syria for trade—alone among all his companions. This is more dazzling because it occurred before revelation had come to him, and because the cloud shaded him exclusively, which shows greater divine care and is more manifest than the cloud that shaded the Children of Israel or others. Moreover, the aim of such shading is simply to protect those in need from the intensity of the heat.
We also noted among the proofs that, when the Prophet ﷺ was asked to pray for rain because of the hunger, exhaustion, and drought afflicting them, he raised his hands and said three times,
“O Allah, send us rain! O Allah, send us rain! O Allah, send us rain!”
Anas said, “By Allah, we could see neither cloud nor the smallest wisp (4) in the sky, and there was not a single house or dwelling between us and Mount Salʿ. Suddenly, from behind it, a cloud the size of a shield appeared; when it reached the middle of the sky it spread out and poured down rain. By Allah,” Anas continued, “we did not see the sun for a whole week. And when …”