The Extraordinary Signs During the Prophet’s Birth
Many signs accompanied the honourable birth of the Prophet. Al-Bayhaqiyy, Ibn ^Asakir and others narrated from the route of Hani’ ِl-Makhzumi that he said, “On the night of the birth of the Messenger of Allah, the palace of Kisra (the King of the Persians) shook and fourteen (14) balconies fell from it. The fire of the Persians which had been burning continuously for one thousand (1,000) years went out. The lake of Sawah (in Persia) dried up.
The fourteen (14) fallen balconies from the palace of Kisra mentioned in the hadith were a sign that the rulership of the Persians would last for only fourteen (14) more Persian kings. And this is what happened—the fourteenth (and last) Persian king ruled during the caliphate of ^Uthman, may Allah raise his rank.
The fire of the Persians is in reference to a fire that they had kept burning day and night for one thousand (1,000) years. At the time of the birth of the Prophet, the Persians were fire-worshipers. They worshipped the fire unrightfully. On the night of the birth of the Prophet, this fire went out—a sign of the truthful call of Prophet Muhammad to worship Allah alone.
The lake of Sawah mentioned in the hadith was a lake so vast that ships used to sail in it. It dried up when the Prophet was born.
Some scholars mentioned that another sign which accompanied the birth of the Prophet was that the devils were stricken with falling stars and were blocked from hearing any of the news exchanged by the angels in the sky. However, the more famous saying is that the devils were stricken with falling stars when Allah revealed Muhammad as a prophet.
The Hafidh al-^Iraqiyy mentioned in his book, Al-Mawlid Al-Hani, from the route of Baqiyy Ibn Makhlad, “Among the signs is that Iblis, the forefather of the devils, was blocked from the news of the sky so he rang out a very loud scream. Likewise, he rang out when he was damned, when he was taken out of Paradise, and when the Chapter of the Fatihah was revealed.”
Also among the signs are the sounds that were heard at the time of Zawal (beginning of noon time) coming from the interiors of the idols in Makkah announcing the good news of the appearance of Prophet Muhammad.
