himself, again commanded: ‘Tell them to separate!’ I swear by the Glorious One in the grasp of Whose power I am that the trees and rocks separated, and returned to their places.”(133)

These two incidents which were reported by Jabir b. Usama were also reported by Ya‘la b. Murra, Ghaylan b. Salama al-Thaqafi, and Ibn Mas‘ud, referring to the Battle of Hunayn.(134)

F i f t h E x a m p l e : Reported by Imam b. Fawrak, known as ‘the foremost scholar of his time’ and ‘Shafi‘i the Second’ for his excellence in interpretation: “While travelling on horseback one night during the Ta’if expedition, sleep overcame God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). While in that state a lote-tree loomed up before him. To make way for him and not to hurt his horse, the tree split in two, and the Noble Messenger, on the horse, passed between the two parts of the tree.” The tree has remained as two trunks, in that honoured position, up to our time.(135)

S i x t h E x a m p l e : Ya‘la b. Murra relates in an authentic narration: “During an expedition, a tree -called either talha or samura- came, passed around

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(133) Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa: i, 300; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa: i, 617-9; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa: iii, 51; al-‘Asqalani, al-Matalib al-‘Aliya iv, 8-10 no: 3830.
(134) Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa: i, 301; al-Hindi, Kanz al-‘Ummal xii, 403.
(135) Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa: i, 301; Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa: i, 619; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa: iii, 57.