Hadith 31

the ground with a grooving, until it paused in front of him-saww. He-saww said to him: ‘Does that suffice you? ’ He said, ‘No’. He-saww said: ‘What is that which you want? ’ He said, ‘Order it to return to where it came from and settle in its residence which it uprooted from’. He-saww ordered it, and it returned and settled in its residence. The Greek said to Amir-Al-Momineen-asws, ‘This which you-asws are mentioning from Muhammad-saww, he-saww is absent from me, and I want reduced from you and less than that. I shall go distant from you-asws, and you-asws call me over, and I will choose not to respond. If I do come to you-asws, then this would be a sign’. Amir-Al-Momineen-asws said: ‘This rather happens to be a sign for you alone, because you know from yourself that you do not want (to come), and (it would not be known whether it was) I-asws who moved your choice from without any gesture to anything from me-asws, or (whether it was) from I-asws having ordered it with your coming, or (whether it was) from the (other) ones who aimed to that and it wasn’t I-asws who ordered it. But (you should ask for) what would happen to be from the Power of Allah-azwj the Exalted, the Compeller. And you, O Greek, (otherwise) it would be possible that you claim that somebody else enabled it, and he would be saying, ‘I have made you obey upon that’. Therefore, suggest if you were suggesting, what would be a sign for the entirety of the worlds’. The Greek said to him-asws, ‘Since you-asws have made the suggesting, to be for me, then I suggest that you-asws disjoint the parts of that palm tree and separate them and distance what is between them. Then you-asws should gather and return them just as they used to be’. Ali-asws said: ‘This is a sign, and you be my-asws messenger to it – meaning to the palm tree – and say to it that the successor-asws of Muhammad-saww Rasool-saww of Allah-azwj orders your parts that they should separate and distance from each other’. He went and said to it, and it disjointed, and gathered, and separated and became small parts to the extent that neither could they be seen by the eye nor any traces of it, until it was as if the palm tree had not existed over there at all. The body parts of the Greek trembles and he said, ‘O successor-asws of Muhammad-saww! You-asws have given me my first choice, so (now) give me another. Order it to gather and return to be just as it was’. He-asws said: ‘You be my-asws messenger to it and repeat saying to it, ‘O parts of the palm tree! The successor-asws of Muhammad-saww, Rasool-saww of Allah-azwj orders you that you gather and return to b