They therefore asked him to go to the well and bless it—just as, whenever people complained to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about a shortage of water, Allah would, through his blessed hands, cause water to gush between his fingers. So they came to Musaylima the Liar. He went to the well and—according to the report—spat a mouthful of water into it. The instant he did so, the little water that remained disappeared, even though they had been expecting it to multiply and overflow. Allah thus showed them a sign that unmasked this man’s falsehood.

There is no doubt that what took place was extraordinary, for it is not in the ordinary course of things that someone’s spittle should make what little water is in a well simply vanish. The event ran counter to habit, yet Allah enacted it as a humiliation for him.

In general, when you witness something that breaks the normal order of the world, then if the person involved is a believing, God-fearing servant known for righteousness and uprightness, the phenomenon counts among the saints’ karāmāt. If he is not, it is either a satanic trick worked by devils or a piece of sorcery that enchants people’s eyes, for magic can bewitch the sight so that the moving appears still and the still appears to move. Consider Pharaoh’s magicians: they threw ordinary ropes and staffs onto the ground and bewitched people’s eyes until the whole valley seemed full of serpents—even Moses ﷺ felt an inner apprehension. Allah then revealed to him that he should cast down his staff: “So he threw it down, and behold! it became a manifest serpent” (Q 7:107)—a mighty snake that advanced over the ropes and sticks, swallowing them up. The magicians immediately realized that he was telling the truth, for the staff devoured all their magic.

Thus, the cloud-like shade that enveloped the reciter while he was reading Sūrat al-Kahf is a karāma granted to him—a tangible testimony from Allah, exalted is He.