人天生就不愿屈服于另一个人，除非迫于对方的体力、智力优势，或者被展示了远超任何人能力的奇迹。前两种情况下，他是勉强屈服；第三种情况下，他则是因为相信一种超越人类一切比较的更高力量或权能而屈服。因此，安拉不仅赐予祂的使者启示，也赐予他们奇迹，向世人清楚地证明他们所传信息的神圣来源与真实性。世人无法效仿先知们的奇迹，于是他们心甘情愿地作证安拉的独一，并服从先知的命令。

Man has a natural distaste towards submitting to another man unless he is forced to by the latter’s physical strength or his mental superiority, or if he is shown feats far beyond the abilities of any man. In the first two cases, he yields reluctantly, while in the third, he yields because of his belief in a higher force or power defying all human comparison. Therefore, Allaah favored His messengers not only with revelation, but also with miracles, clearly proving to the people the divine origin and truthfulness of their messages. The inability of the people to imitate the miracles of the prophets made them willingly bear witness to Allaah’s unity and obey the commandments of the prophets.

由于交通和通讯的种种困难，早期的先知只被派遣到他们所出生和成长的那一族人之中。

Due to the difficulties involved in communication and transportation, the early prophets were sent only to the people among whom they were raised up.

因此,他们所带来的神迹,特别契合其民族所擅长的知识领域,以使神迹对他们产生最大的效果。例如,先知穆萨(摩西),愿安拉的平安降临于他,是在埃及人中间被派遣的,埃及人以精通玄术、巫术和魔法而闻名。因此,安拉赐予他一个神迹:他能将手放入衣襟之中,再取出一只光辉灿烂的手。当巫师和术士被召集来挑战先知穆萨,他们所投掷的杖在观众眼中看似蛇一般时,安拉使先知穆萨的杖变成一条巨大而真实的蛇,吞噬了对手的"蛇"。这一失败对于巫师和术士而言已是足够的证据,因为他们知道,没有人能够像穆萨表面上所做的那样改变一根木杖的本质。尽管他们的主子法老以性命相威胁,他们仍俯伏于地,顺从并真诚地信仰穆萨的主。

Thus, the miracles which they brought were particularly suited to the areas of knowledge in which their people excelled in order for the miracles to have the maximum effect on them. For example, Prophet Moosaa (Moses), may Allaah’s peace be on him, was raised up among the Egyptians, who were noted for their mastery of the occult arts, sorcery, and magic. Hence, Allaah gave him the miracle of being able to place his hand in his cloak and extract a brilliantly shining hand. And when sorcerers and magicians were gathered to challenge Prophet Moosaa, and the staffs which they had cast appeared to the audience as snakes, Allaah turned Prophet Moosaa’s staff into a huge, real snake that devoured the “snakes” of his opponents. That defeat was sufficient proof for the magicians and sorcerers, who knew that no one could change the nature of a stick as Moosaa apparently had done. They fell on their faces in submission and sincere belief in the God of Moosaa, in spite of the threats on their lives uttered by their master, the Pharaoh.

另一个例子是先知尔撒（耶稣）的事迹，真主从犹太人中拣选了他。犹太人以其在医学领域的卓越才能而著称。犹太医生备受尊敬与推崇，因为他们似乎拥有神奇的能力，能够接骨、疗伤、治愈病人。因此，真主赐予先知尔撒非凡的神迹：使盲人复明、使瘸子行走、使死者复活。这些能力显然超出了当时犹太医生的水平，而他们也很清楚，没有任何普通人能够做到这些。然而，真主还赐予先知尔撒一个更加令人惊叹的神迹：他能用泥土捏成鸟的形状，向它吹气，它们便会飞走。

Another example is that of Prophet ‘Eesaa (Jesus), who was chosen by Allaah from among the Jews. The Jews were especially noted for their exceptional abilities in the field of medicine. Jewish doctors were highly respected and revered for their seemingly magical ability to mend bones, heal wounds, and cure the sick. Thus, Allaah favored Prophet ‘Eesaa with the miraculous ability to make the blind see, the lame walk, and to bring the dead back to life. These abilities were clearly beyond those of the Jewish doctors of that day, and they knew well that no regular man could do them. Yet, Allaah gave Prophet ‘Eesaa an even more dazzling miracle: he was able to mold birds out of clay, breathe on them, and they would fly away.

由于先知穆罕默德(ﷺ)是最后的先知,不仅被派遣给某一特定的民族,而是被派遣给全人类,他被赐予了一种奇迹。这一奇迹不仅令他所生活的人们惊叹,而且将挑战并震撼人类的思想,直到这个世界的末日。先知穆罕默德(ﷺ)与此前的众先知一样,还被赐予了其他许多奇迹,这些奇迹的影响基本上局限于他那个时代的人们。例如,应他的部族所求而显示的神迹——月亮被分裂;在一次他与众同伴缺水时,水从他的手中涌出;还有石子和石块向他致以问候(即以“愿平安降临你”的话语问候他:“as-salaamu ‘alaykum”,意为“愿平安降临于你”),仅举这几例。然而,与安拉此前对众先知的援助相一致的先知穆罕默德(ﷺ)的奇迹,是一种文学上的奇迹。

Since the Prophet Muhammad (r) was to be the last of the prophets sent not only to a particular people, but to all of mankind, he was given a miracle which not only amazed people among whom he was raised, but which would challenge and amaze the human mind until the last days of this world. Prophet Muhammad (r), like the other prophets before him, was given a number of other miracles whose effects were basically limited to the people of his time; for example, the splitting of the moon upon his tribe’s request for a sign, the outpouring of water from his hands on one occasion when he and his companions were short of water, and the phenomenon of pebbles and rocks giving salaams to him (i.e., greeting him with the phrase: “ as-salaamu ‘alaykum,” meaning, “peace be on you”), just to mention a few.41 However, the miracle of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) which was consistent with Allaah’s aid to the prophets before him was a literary miracle.

阿拉伯人在独特技艺和积累的知识方面所拥有的很少，但他们以自己的演说和文学才能为傲，并以此为荣。每年在像ʿUkkaath集市那样的集会上都会举行比赛，人们在比赛中凭记忆背诵大量的演讲词和诗歌。他们的语言已经发展到顶峰，雄辩被视为一个人所能拥有的最高品质。事实上，最著名的十首诗歌备受尊崇，它们被用金线书写并悬挂在天房（Ka‘bah）中，供人们庄严地瞻仰。42 因此，安拉将一部经典启示给了祂最后的先知，经典的部分篇章以难以理解的字母开头，例如“Alif Laam Meem”、“Qaaf”或“Noon”，撩拨着阿拉伯人的心思，仿佛在说：“你们日常对话以及伟大的散文和诗歌所用的这些字母，构成了一部经典，其最短的章节也不超过三行，然而无论你们如何努力，都无法模仿它！”因此，他的常存神迹正是《古兰经》本身，正如先知（ﷺ）亲自所说的那样：

The Arabs had very little in the way of unique skills or accumulated knowledge, but they took great pride in their oratory and literary skills. Yearly contests were held in fairs like that of ‘Ukkaath, in which many lines of speeches and poetry were recited from memory. Their language had reached its peak of development, and eloquence was considered the highest quality a man could possess. In fact, the ten most famous poems were so revered that they were etched in gold and hung in the Ka‘bah for solemn adoration.42 Consequently, Allaah revealed to His last prophet a book, beginning some parts with unintelligible letters like, “Alif Laam Meem” or “Qaaf” or “Noon,” tantalizing the Arab mind, as if to say, “From these letters which you combine to form your daily conversations, as well as great works of prose and poetry, is formed a book whose shortest chapter does not exceed three lines, yet you cannot imitate it, no matter how hard you try!” Thus, his standing miracle was none other then the Qur’aan itself, as the Prophet (ﷺ) himself stated,