78 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
Al-'Awfi related it thus, from Ibn 'Ahbas, God bless him, this being one of his
rnur~al'~ traditions.
The ha& Aba Nu'aym stated, "Sulayman b. Ahmad related to us, quoting
Bakr b. Suhayl, quoting 'Ahd al-Ghani b. Sa'id, quoting Mas% b. 'Abd
al-Rahmm, from Ibn Jurayj, from 'At%', from Ibn 'Abbas - also, it came from
Muqatil, from d-Dahha, from Ibn 'Abbas - with reference to God's words,
'The hour has drawn near and the moon has been split asunder' as follows, 'The
polytheists gathered around the Messenger of God (SAAS); they included
al-Walid b. al-Mughira, Abu Jahl b. Hisha, al-'AS b. Wa'il, al-'AS b. Hisha,
al-Aswad b. 'Abd Yaghath, al-Aswad b. al-Mutcalib b. Asad b. 'Abd alLcUzzz,
Zam'a h. al-Aswad and al-Nadr b. al-Hzrith, along with many other such men.
"'They said to the Prophet (SAAS), "If you are telling the truth, then split the
moon for us into two parts, one half over Mt. Abn Quhays, the other over Mt.
Qu'ayqu%'.' The Prophet (SAAS) asked them, 'Tf I did so, would you believe?"
"Yes, we would," they replied. It was a night of full moon, and so he asked God
the Almighty and Glorious to grant him what they requested. That evening the
moon did have one half removed and placed over Mt. Aha Quhays, the other being
above Mt. Qu%yquCan, while the ~essen~er of God (SAAS) called out, "0 Aba
Sdama b. 'Abd al-Asad, and al-Arqam b. al-Arqam, be a witness (to this event).""'
Moreover, Abu Nu'aym stated, "Sulayman b. Ahmad related to us, quoting
d-Hasan b. al-'Abbas al-Razi, from al-Haytham b. al-'Urnan, as did Ismacil b.
Ziyad, from Ibn Jurayj, from 'A@, from Ibn CAbbas, who said, 'The people of
Mecca went to the Messenger of God (SAAS) and said, "Is there some sign by
which we can know that you are the Messenger of God?"
"'Gabriel then came down and said, "0 Muhammad, tell the people of Mecca
that they will rejoice this night when they will see a sign and benefit thereby."
"'The Messenger of God (SAAS) informed them what Gabriel had said and
they all went outside on the night of the splitting, that of the 14th, and the moon
split into two halves, one above Mt. al-Safz, the other over Mt. al-Marwa. They
looked, turned away and wiped their eyes, then looked once more, saying, "0
Muhammad, this is nothing more than the trickery of a monk!"
"'Then God revealed His words, "The hour has drawn near and the moon
has split asunder"' " (sarat al-Qamar; LIV, v.1-3).
Al-Dahhak related from Ibn 'Abbas as follows, "Rabbis came from the Jews to
the Messenger of God (SAAS), and said, 'Show us a sign so we may believe in you.'
"He asked his Lord, and He showed them the moon split into two parts, one
over Mt. d-Safa, the other above Mt. al-Marwa. It remained so between early
evening until night, with them looking on, and then it disappeared. They
commented, 'This is just magic, a trick.'"
The ha& Aba d-@sim al-Tahrani said, "Ahmad b. 'Amr al-Razz% related to
us, quoting Muhammad b. Y&ya al-Qta'i, quoting Muhammad b. Bakr quoting
- A mursal kodirh is a statement of a Companion that he or she has not attributed to the
Proahct himself.