ger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). The Companions had begun to eat it, when the Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) suddenly said: “Withdraw you hands! It tells me it is poisoned!” Everyone pulled back his hand. But Bishr b. al-Bara’ had eaten a single morsel and died from the effects of the severe poison. The Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) sent for the Jewess called Zaynab and asked her why she had done it. The inauspicious woman retorted: “I considered that if you were a prophet, it would not harm you; and if you were a king, I would save the people from you.” [^181] According to some narrations, the Prophet (UWBP) did not have her put to death, but left her to Bishr’s family to be killed. [^182] Now listen to a few points demonstrating aspects of the miraculousness in this extraordinary incident:
[^181]: From Abū Hurayra: Bukhārī, Ṭibb, 55; Jizya, 7; Maghāzī, 41; Abū Dā’ūd, Diyāt, 6, nos: 4509, 4511, 1512; Dārimī, Muqaddima, 11; Musnad, ii, 451. From Anas: Muslim, no: 2992; Bukhārī, al-Hiba, 28; Abū Dā’ūd, Diyāt, 6, no: 4508. From Jābir b. ‘Abdullāh: Dārimī, Muqaddima, 11; Abū Dā’ūd, Diyāt, 6, no: 4510. For the lines of transmission and narrations about this Ḥadīth, see, Abū Dā’ūd, Diyāt, 6.
[^182]: . al-Ḥākim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 219; iv, 109; Bayhaqī, Dalā’il al-Nubūwwa, vi, 256, 264; Ibn al-Qayyim, Zād al-Ma‘ād, iii, 336.
The First: According to one narration, some of the Companions also heard the goat speaking. [^183]
[^183]: al-Tabrīzī, Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ, no: 5931; Abū Dā’ūd, Diyāt, 6; Dārimī, Muqaddima, 11; al-Jizrī, Jāmi’ al-Uṣūl, No: 8888; al-Haythamī, Majma‘ al-Zawā’id, viii, 295-6.
The Second: According to another, God’s Messenger (UWBP) said: “Say, Bismillah, then eat; the poison will not affect you.” [^184] Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani does not accept this narration, but others do.
[^184]: Qāḍī Iyāḍ, al-Shifā’, i, 317-9; ‘Alī al-Qārī, Sharḥ al-Shifā’, i, 645.
The Third: The treacherous Jews wanted to deal a sudden blow at God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and his close Companions, but being informed about this from the Unseen, the Prophet’s (UWBP) warning proved true, and their plot was uncovered and brought to naught. And when Muhammad (UWBP), from whom the Companions never heard an untrue statement, said: “This goat tells me that..., ” everyone believed him with conviction as sure as if they themselves had heard the goat. [^185]
[^185]: Abū Dā’ūd, Diyāt, 6; Dārimī, Muqaddima, 11; al-Haythamī, Majma‘ al-Zawā’id, viii, 295-6; Bayhaqī, Dalā’il al-Nubūwwa, iv, 262.
Third Example
T h i r d E x a m p l e: This consists of three instances of another miracle which resembles the Shining Hand and Staff of Moses:
The First: Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal, explaining and authenticating a narration from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, reports: “One dark and stormy night, the