Animals of the Signs · Witness of the herds
الذئب الذي تكلم
The Wolf that Spoke
A wolf argued jurisprudence with a shepherd and preached the Prophet's ﷺ mission; two men in Madinah believed it instantly.
The account
A herdsman was among his sheep when a wolf seized one; he chased it and tore his sheep back. The wolf sat up on its tail and delivered the rebuke the sunnah preserved: do you not fear Allah, taking from me a provision Allah drove to me? The stunned man said what every era says at a miracle: a wolf, speaking the speech of men? The wolf's reply aimed higher than its meal: shall I not tell you of something more wondrous? The Messenger of Allah, in Madinah between the two harrahs, informing people of the news of what has passed and what is to come.
The herdsman drove his flock to the city, verified, and the Prophet ﷺ ordered him to tell the people, then sealed it from the minbar: "He has spoken truly. By the One in whose hand is my soul, the Hour will not rise until beasts speak to men…" And when the account was first told, he ﷺ said: "I believe in it, and Abu Bakr and Umar," though the two were not present. The Codex keeps the talking wolf beside Yusuf's silent one: the animal falsely accused in one story testifies in another, and the fastest believers are those whose hearts had already stopped requiring convenience of their miracles.
The facts
- The rebuke“A provision Allah drove to me”
- The newsA Messenger between the harrahs
- Sealed“He has spoken truly” ﷺ
- Instant imanAbu Bakr and Umar, in absentia
The narrations
I believe in it, and Abu Bakr and Umar.
Bukhari 2324 · Muslim 2388
Read beside it
The words
People beside it
- Abu Bakr as-SiddiqAs-Siddiq · First caliph · Companion of the caveأبو بكر الصديق
- Umar ibn al-KhattabAl-Faruq · Second caliphعمر بن الخطاب
- The Wolf of Yusuf's StoryThe alibi that never happenedذئب يوسف
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