…and no other scholar of the sirah confirmed it. Besides, this is not among the occurrences that were directly witnessed; at most, the narrator noticed that the sun rose later than usual, but he did not see it actually being held back from its appointed time.

Even more unusual is what Ibn al-Mutahhar records in his book “al-Minhaj,” namely that the sun was restored for ʿAli twice. He first cites the previously mentioned report verbatim, and then adds:

“On the second occasion, when he wished to cross the Euphrates at Babylon, many of his followers were detained because of their mounts. He therefore performed the ʿAsr prayer with a group of his companions, while many others missed it. They spoke about the matter, so he asked Allah to return the sun, and it was returned.”

Al-Ḥimyari versified the tale:
“The sun returned to him when prayer time had slipped
and it was drawing near to the western sky;
its light reversed until the hour of ʿAsr was regained,
then it plunged again like a falling star.
For him at Babylon it rose a second time—
a marvel never granted to any favoured creature.”

He went on to say: Abū Nuʿaym, after mentioning Moses, listed Idris—peace be upon him. According to many Qurʾanic commentators Idris was one of the prophets of the Children of Israel, whereas Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq ibn Yasār and other genealogists place him before Noah—peace be upon him—in the ancestral line back to Adam, as has already been noted.

He said: “Concerning the elevation granted to Idris—peace be upon him—which Allah celebrated when He said, ‘We raised him to a lofty station’ (Maryam 57)…

“The point is that our Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ was granted something greater and more complete than that, for Allah exalted his name in this world and the next when He said, ‘Have We not raised high your mention?’ (al-Sharḥ 4). There is no preacher, intercessor, or worshipper who does not proclaim, ‘I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allah.’ Thus Allah has coupled his name with His Own throughout East and West, and that proclamation is the very key to the prescribed prayer.”

He then cited the ḥadith of Ibn Lahiʿah: from Darrāj, from Abū al-Haytham (1), from Abū Saʿīd, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding the verse “Have We not raised high your mention?” He said: “Gabriel told me: Allah says, ‘Whenever I am mentioned, you are mentioned.’” (2) Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim transmitted it through the chain of Darrāj as well.

Next he said: “Abū Aḥmad Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Ghatrīfī narrated to us; Mūsā ibn Sahl al-Jawnī narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn al-Qāsim ibn Bahrām al-Haītī narrated to us; Naṣr ibn Ḥammād narrated to us, from ʿUthmān ibn ʿAṭāʾ, from al-Zuhrī, from…”