with the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and testified to his messengership.” [^271]
[^271]: Qāḍī Iyāḍ, al-Shifā’, i, 314; al-Khafājī, Sharḥ al-Shifā’, iii, 91; al-Haythamī, Majma‘ al-Zawā’id, viii, 295.
Thus, there are numerous examples similar to these. We have described a few that are famous and certain. To those who do not recognize and obey the Noble Messenger (UWBP), we say this: O man! Take a lesson from these! The lion and the wolf recognized and obeyed him; you, then, should try not to fall lower than an animal!
Second Branch
S e c o n d B r a n c h
This concerns corpses, jinns, and angels recognizing God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace). There were very many instances of this. We shall describe a few examples which are famous and have been related by reliable scholars, firstly about corpses. As for jinns and angels, the many reports concerning them are unanimous, and examples of them number not one but a thousand. And so, examples of the dead speaking:
The First is this: Hasan al-Basri, an important and loyal student of Imam ‘Ali and the greatest authority among the scholars of the external and esoteric sciences in the time of the generation subsequent to the Companions, related: “A man came weeping to God’s Messenger (UWBP). He said: ‘I had a little girl; she drowned in such-and-such stream nearby. I left her there.’ He pitied the man and said they would go there together. They went, and the Messenger (UWBP) called to the dead girl, saying her name. At once the dead girl replied: ‘I am present and answer your call gladly.’ He asked her: ‘Do you want to return to your father and mother?’ She replied: ‘No, I have found something better here!’” [^272]
[^272]: Qāḍī Iyāḍ, al-Shifā’, i, 320; al-Khafājī, Sharḥ al-Shifā’, iii, 106.
The Second: Important authorities like Imam Bayhaqi and Imam b. ‘Adiyy relate from Anas b. Malik: Anas said: “An elderly woman had a single son who suddenly died. The righteous woman was very grieved and prayed: ‘O God, I left my home and migrated here only to obtain Your pleasure and to pay allegiance to God’s Noble Messenger (UWBP) and to serve him. For the sake of Your Messenger, return my son to me, who was the only person to look after me.’” Anas said: “The dead man rose up and came and ate with us.” [^273]
[^273]: Qāḍī Iyāḍ, al-Shifā’, i, 320; Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāya wa’l-Nihāya, vi, 292.
In the following lines from the celebrated poem Qasidat al-Burda, Imam Busiri refers to this extraordinary event: “Were his wonders to corre-