The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 389
The Holy Qur'an 389 Almighty put a covering on the eyes of all those wretches and the Holy Prophetsa left unnoticed. Another extraordinary manifestation that God, the Glori- ous, exhibited for safeguarding His immaculate Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] was that, though his enemies arrived outside the cave in which the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] was hidden with his companion, they could not see him for God Almighty had sent a pair of pigeons which built a nest the same night at the entrance to the cave and also laid their eggs there and by Divine command a spider also wove its web at the place, whereby the enemies of the Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] were misled and returned frustrated. Another miracle that occurred was that an opponent of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] who was riding a horse on the way to Medina, tried to approach the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] and through the latter's prayer the hooves of his horse sank into the earth and he fell down, whereupon he asked for forgiveness of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] and turned away. Another miraculous event that occurred was that when being provoked by their failure, his enemies advanced against the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] with a large army so that they might destroy the Muslims, who were small in number, and thus root out Islām, God, the Glorious, created confusion among the enemy forces at Badr in consequence of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] throwing a handful of gravel at his enemies, and thus brought about their de- feat. God Almighty caused this handful of gravel to make the enemy leaders blind and confused them and rooted