The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 455
X - Siege of Madīnah and Delicate State of the Muslims, Failure of the Disbelievers and Reality of Miracles 455 tied to his stomach. 1 In this very state of adversity and difficulty, while the ditch was being dug, a stone which simply refused to break was excavated. The state of the Companions was that due to three days of continuous starvation, they fell faint. Unable to succeed in this task, they finally presented themselves before the Holy Prophet sa and submitted, “There is one stone which knows no breaking. ” At the time, the Holy Prophet sa had also tied a stone on his stomach due to hunger, but he immediately went there upon their request and lifting an axe, struck the stone, in the name of Allāh. 2 When iron hit stone, a spark flew, upon which the Holy Prophet sa loudly said, “God is the Greatest!” Then he said, “I have been granted the keys of the kingdom of Syria. By God, at this time, I am beholding the red-stone palaces of Syria. ” His stroke had somewhat crushed a portion of the stone. The Holy Prophet sa wielded the axe a second time in the name of Allāh, which caused a spark again, upon which the Holy Prophet sa said, “God is the Greatest!” Then he said, “This time, I have been granted the keys of Persia, and I am witnessing the white palaces of Madaen. ” Now, the rock had been broken to a large degree. The Holy Prophet sa wielded the axe yet a third time, which resulted in another spark and the Holy Prophet sa said, “God is the Greatest!” Then he said, “Now, I have been endowed the keys of Yemen, and by God, I am being shown the gates of San‘a at this time. ” Finally, the rock was broken completely. In another narration it is related that on every occasion, the Holy Prophet sa would loudly proclaim the Greatness of God and after the Companions would inquire, he would relate his visions. 3 After this temporary hindrance had been removed, the Companions engaged in their work once again. These were visions of the Holy Prophet sa. In other words, during this time of affliction, Allāh the Exalted created a spirit of hope and delight amongst the Companions by showing the 1 It was a custom among the Arabs that in a time of hunger or extreme difficulty, when nothing was available to eat, they would tie a stone or Ḥajar, on their stomach, by which slouching could be prevented and the body could be tightly held in an upright position. It is due to this very custom that the Urdu proverb came about that, ‘So and so walks about with a stone tied to his stomach. ’ It is also possible that the word Ḥajar refers to a piece of cloth tied around the waist, because in the Arabic language, the word Ḥajar also refers to a cloth. Refer to Majma‘ul-Biḥār. Allāh knows best. 2 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Ghazwatil-Khandaqi Wa Hiyal-Aḥzābu, Ḥadīth No. 4101 3 * Fatḥul-Bārī Sharḥu Ṣaḥīḥil-Bukhārī, By Al-Imām Aḥmad bin Ḥajar Al-‘Asqalānī, Volume 7, p. 505, Kitābul-Maghāzī, Bābu Ghazwatil-Khandaqi Wa Hiyal-Aḥzābu, Ḥadīth No. 4102, Qadīmī Kutub Khānah, Ārām Bāgh, Karachi * Sharḥul-‘Allāmatiz-Zarqānī ‘Alal-Mawāhibil-Ladunniyyah, By Allāmah Shihābuddīn Al-Qusṭalānī, Volume 3, pp. 31-33, Ghazwatul-Khandaqi Wa Hiyal-Aḥzābu, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon, First Edition (1996)