The Essence of Islam – Volume V — Page 27
Miracles, Signs and Prophecies 27 own without the medium of another person's will, nor is it appropriate that this should be so. That is why, when a Prophet or a saint shows on his own authority, and without the medium of prayer, such supernormal phenomena as no man has been empowered to show through any means, method or remedy, such an act of the Prophet would remain inferior to the acts of God which He so visibly manifests with His perfect power. That is to say, a miracle shown by one's personal power, when compared to the acts of God that are di- rectly manifested by Him, must contain some fault or weakness, so that people who view things only super- ficially may not confuse the two phenomena as identical. That is why the rod of Prophet Mosesas, de- spite turning into a serpent on a number of occasions, always remained a rod. Similarly, the birds which are said to have been created by Jesusas were no more than clay, despite the fact that their miraculous flight is evident from the Holy Quran. God nowhere says that they actually became alive. But since the miracles shown by the Holy Prophetsa on his own were imbued with Divine Power to ultimate degree and since he was the ultimate, loftiest, and most perfect embodi- ment of Divine attributes it is hard to place his miracles within the realm of human power. Neverthe- less, we do believe that even in this instance there must be some difference between the act of God and that of His Holy Prophetsa. [A'ina-e-Kamālāt-e-Islam, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 5, pp. 66-68]