基于上一章中“你们凭他们的果实认识他们”这一原则，穆罕默德ﷺ对世界的积极影响，是他的使命所结出的另一项蒙福的果实。

Building on the “you will know them by their fruits” principle from the previous chapter, Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم positive impact on the world was another blessed fruit harvested from his ministry.

除了他个人的行为和无可挑剔的品格之外，另一个关于他先知身份的证明，可以从这个问题的答案中找到：这个人究竟成就了什么？他的成就是代表了非凡的才能和美德，还是仅仅是其追随者的夸大之词？伊本·哈兹姆（卒于）

In addition to his personal actions and impeccable character, a further proof of his prophethood is found in the answer to this question: what exactly did this man accomplish? Do his achievements represent extraordinary talent and virtue, or mere hyperbolic attributions by his followers? Ibn Ḥazm (d.

(1064)是科尔多瓦的博学者,他在阐述穆罕默德ﷺ如何以史无前例的方式改变了周围的世界之后写道:对于任何深入思考他传记的人而言,必然会相信他,并作证他确实是安拉的使者ﷺ。即便他ﷺ没有其他奇迹,仅凭他的传记,也就足够了。122

1064), the Córdoban polymath, after illustrating how Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم transformed the world around him in a historically unparalleled way, writes, The biography of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم, for anyone who deeply considers it, necessitates believing him and testifying that he is certainly the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم. If he صلى الله عليه وسلم had no other miracle but his biography, it would have sufficed.122

先知穆罕默德ﷺ不仅在世界舞台上的政治影响力非同寻常，他对宗教虔诚和精神生活的影响，也明显大于其他任何主要宗教的创立者，对整体社会福祉的影响同样如此。在人类历史上，他ﷺ的独特之处在于，他能同时在众多角色中卓越出众：精神领袖、国家元首、统帅、外交家、家庭成员和教育者。耶稣基督是伟大的精神人物，但他并不是统帅或国家元首。亚历山大大帝和许多其他著名的政治领袖，并不因其道德美德或精神动机而被人称颂。相反，许多伟大的国王、统治者和皇帝残忍、傲慢，或者沉醉于权力与妄自尊大之中。但穆罕默德ﷺ身上有一些不同之处，使发现它的人为之惊叹：他的遗产并非由某一个方面奠定，而是由无数杰出的成就汇聚于一人身上所造就的。

The Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم was not just extraordinary in terms of his political reach on the world stage, but he was also a demonstrably greater influence on religiosity and spirituality than any other founder of the major faiths, and on social well-being at large. He صلى الله عليه وسلم was unique in human history for having excelled in numerous roles simultaneously: a spiritual leader, a head of state, a general, a diplomat, a family man, and an educator. Jesus Christ  was a tremendous spiritual figure, but not a general or head of state. Alexander “the Great” and many other iconic political leaders were not heralded for their moral virtue or spiritual motivation. On the contrary, many great kings, rulers, and emperors were ruthless, arrogant, or otherwise intoxicated by power and delusions of grandeur. But there was something different about Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم—something that leaves those who discover it awestruck. It was the fact that no single aspect established his legacy, but instead a myriad of outstanding feats that converged in one person.

这正是过去一千五百多年来令无数人既着迷又困惑的问题，使他们不禁自问：这样的人物是否真的存在于传说之外？是否还有其他合理的解释？或许他确实是真主所派遣的？

This is what fascinated and bewildered so many over the past millennium and a half, leaving them wondering: Could such a person have existed outside of legends? Is there any other plausible explanation for this? Perhaps he really was sent by God?

约翰·威廉·德雷珀(John William Draper,1882年逝世),英裔美国历史学家,曾写道:“查士丁尼去世四年后,即公元569年,在阿拉伯的麦加出生了一位人物,他在所有人中,对人类的影响最为深远……在宣布‘只有一位神’之后,他又补充道:‘穆罕默德是他的先知。’凡想知道这一宣告的大胆是否与事情的结果相符的人,不妨在今天查看一幅世界地图。他会发现,这里留下的印记远不止一场骗局。”

John William Draper (d. 1882), an English-American historian, wrote, Four years after the death of Justinian, A.D. 569, was born at Mecca, in Arabia, the man who, of all men, has exercised the greatest influence upon the human race… To the declaration that there is but one God, he added, ‘and Mohammed is his Prophet.’ Whoever desires to know whether the event of things answered to the boldness of such an announcement, will do well to examine a map of the world in our own times. He will find the marks of something more than an imposture.

要成为众多帝国的宗教领袖，指引人类三分之一人口的日常生活，或许足以证明他是上帝的使者。123 这里并不需要什么信仰的飞跃。若说这些成就全都只是某个人的侥幸所致，那只可能出于对现实的无知，或是出于偏见的扭曲。试想这样一个谜一般的人：他本人是个文盲，出生于落后且部落纷争不断的阿拉伯，与周围帝国的艺术、哲学、政治、战争与教育相隔绝。再想想，正是这个人，在一夜之间站了出来，发出一个深刻、影响深远且持久不衰、无人能及的号召。他的宗教传播之迅速，他的号召至今在全球范围内的号召力，以及这一个人所产生的积极影响，在人类历史上是无与伦比的，并将继续如此。德雷珀当然不是西方唯一认识到这一点的非穆斯林历史学家。美国学者兼法学家塞缪尔·P·斯科特（卒于1929年）写道：无论如何，如果宗教的目的在于灌输道德、减少罪恶、促进人类幸福、拓展人类的智识；如果在那伟大的日子里，当人类被召唤接受最终清算时，善行将发挥作用，那么承认穆罕默德确实是上帝的使者，既不是亵渎，也不是不合情理的。ﷺ124

To be the religious head of many empires, to guide the daily life of one-third of the human race, may perhaps justify the title of a messenger of God.123 There is no leap of faith here. To say that sheer luck is responsible for all these things being accomplished by any one individual can only be claimed by someone uninformed about reality or perverted by prejudice. Consider the enigma of a man who himself was illiterate, born in a backwards and feuding Arabia, isolated from the arts, philosophies, politics, warfare, and education of the surrounding empires. Consider that this very man steps forward—overnight—with a call whose profundity, impact, and permanence remain peerless. The speed at which his religion spread, the global command of his call until today, and the positive influence of this single individual were—and will remain—unparalleled in human history. Draper was certainly not the only non-Muslim historian in the West who recognized this. Samuel P. Scott (d. 1929), an American scholar and jurist, wrote, In any event, if the object of religion be the inculcation of morals, the diminution of evil, the promotion of human happiness, the expansion of the human intellect; if the performance of good works will avail in that great day when mankind shall be summoned to its final reckoning, it is neither irreverent nor unreasonable to admit that Mohammed was indeed an Apostle of God.124

正如法国历史学家阿方斯·德·拉马丁(卒于1869年)所精辟指出的:“如果说目标的伟大、手段的渺小和结果的惊人是衡量人类天才的三个标准,那么谁敢将现代历史上任何一位伟人与穆罕默德相比?那些最著名的人物所创造的,不过是武力、法律与帝国。他们即便建立了什么,也不过是物质的权力,而这些权力往往在他们眼前土崩瓦解。这个人不仅推动了军队、立法、帝国、民族和王朝,还推动了当时世界三分之一地区的数百万人;不仅如此,他还推动了祭坛、神明、宗教、思想、信仰和灵魂。他以一部经典为基础,其中每一个字母都已成为律法,由此建立起一种精神上的民族认同,将讲各种语言、属于各种种族的民族融合在一起。他留给我们这一穆斯林民族不可磨灭的特质:憎恶伪神,热爱独一且非物质的真主。这种对亵渎天道的复仇式的爱国精神,构成了穆罕默德追随者的美德;将世界三分之一的土地纳入他的信仰,便是他的奇迹。在神话般的众神谱系已令人精疲力竭之时,他所宣告的独一真主的理念,本身就是一个奇迹;当这一理念从他口中说出时,它摧毁了所有古老的偶像神庙,并使世界三分之一的地方燃起了信仰之火……”

As Alphonse de Lamartine (d. 1869), a French historian, skillfully put it, If greatness of purpose, smallness of means, and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Muhammad? The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world; and more than that, he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and souls. On the basis of a Book, every letter of which has become law, he created a spiritual nationality which has blended together peoples of every tongue and of every race. He has left to us as the indelible characteristic of this Muslim nationality, the hatred of false gods and the passion for the One and immaterial God. This avenging patriotism against the profanation of Heaven formed the virtue of the followers of Muhammad: the conquest of one third of the earth to his creed was his miracle. The idea of the unity of God proclaimed amidst the exhaustion of fabulous theogonies, was in itself such a miracle that upon its utterance from his lips it destroyed all the ancient temples of idols and set on fire one third of the world...

他的生平、他的沉思、他对本国迷信的英勇抵抗，以及他敢于对抗偶像崇拜的狂热势力的胆识；他在麦加十三年间坚忍承受这些压力，甘愿成为公众嘲讽的对象，几乎成为同胞迫害的受害者：所有这些，最终还有他不懈的传道、以少敌多的战争、他对成功的信念、他在逆境中超乎常人的镇定、他在胜利时的宽容，以及他的雄心——这种雄心完全专注于一个理念，丝毫不在于追求帝国；他无休止的祈祷、他与真主之间的神秘交谈、他的逝世以及逝世后的胜利：所有这些都证明，他并非骗子，而是怀有坚定的信念，正是这信念赋予他力量，去重建一种教义。这一教义包含两方面：真主的独一性与真主的非物质性；前者说明真主是什么，后者说明真主不是什么；前者以剑推翻伪神，后者以言语开创一种理念。哲学家、演说家、使徒、立法者、战士、理念的征服者、理性教义的重建者，一种无偶像崇拜之信仰的创立者，二十个世俗帝国与一个精神帝国的奠基人：这就是穆罕默德。若以衡量人类伟大的一切标准来看，我们不禁要问：还有比他更伟大的人吗？125

His life, his meditations, his heroic stance against the superstitions of his country, and his boldness in defying the furies of idolatry; his firmness in enduring them for thirteen years at Mecca, his acceptance of the role of public scorn and almost of being a victim of his fellow-countrymen: all these and, finally his incessant preaching, his wars against odds, his faith in his success and his superhuman security in misfortune, the forbearance in victory, his ambition, which was entirely devoted to one idea and in no manner striving for an empire; his endless prayers, his mystic conversations with God, his death and his triumph after death; all these attest not to an imposture but to a firm conviction which gave him the power to restore a dogma. This dogma was twofold, the unity of God and the immateriality of God; the former telling what God is, the latter telling what God is not; the one overthrowing false gods with the sword, the other starting an idea with words. Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire; that is Muhammad. As regards all the standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask: is there any man greater than he?125