Today, however, towering figures have passed away and no one mourns them. May Allah help us and you to remember Him, thank Him, and worship Him well.

The Prophet ﷺ then came down and began soothing the trunk just as a mother calms her infant—even though it was only lifeless wood—and the trunk fell silent. Two distinct signs were therefore manifested in this event:

1. the trunk’s loud crying when it was separated from the Prophet ﷺ;
2. its sudden silence once the Prophet ﷺ descended to quiet it.

A parallel sign was granted to Moses (peace be upon him). The Children of Israel had harmed him grievously, as Allah says: “O you who believe, do not be like those who offended Moses; Allah cleared him of what they alleged” (Q 33:69). Among their accusations was that he was ādar—possessing unusually large testicles, considered a flaw. Moses used to bathe behind a screen, whereas they bathed naked; they claimed he covered himself only to hide a defect.

Allah wished to show them, without any choice on Moses’s part, that he had no defect. On one occasion he went to bathe, placed his garment on a rock, and while he was washing the rock fled, running swiftly. Moses chased after it, crying, “My garment, O rock! My garment, O rock!”—meaning, “Give me my clothes, O rock!” The rock kept moving until it reached a group of the Children of Israel, who saw Moses without any blemish—praise be to Allah. When the rock finally stopped, Moses struck it because it had acted like a rational being and thus deserved to be disciplined. Mothers behave similarly with their small children: if a child trips or is struck by something, she will hit the object that caused it in order to calm the child and lift his spirits.

In the same way, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ descended and quieted the trunk, and it became still. This is among the signs of Allah. Allah knows best.