Ibn Jarir recorded that Ibn Abbas commented on Allah's saying:

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ

وَإِن يَرَوْا آيَةً يُعْرِضُوا وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ ﴿٢﴾

The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder. And if they see a sign, they turn away and say: "This is magic, Mustamir.''

This occurred before the Hijrah; the moon was split and they saw it in two parts.''

The Narration of `Abdullah bin `Umar Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr

Al-Bayhaqi recorded that Abdullah bin Umar commented on Allah's statement:

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ

The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder.

"This occurred during the time of Allah's Messenger; the moon was split in two parts. A part of it was before the mount and a part on the other side.

The Prophet said,
اللْهُمَّ اشْهَد O Allah! Be witness.''

This is the narration that Muslim and At-Tirmidhi collected.

At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih.''

The Narration of `Abdullah bin Mas`ud

Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Mas`ud said,

"The moon was split in two parts during the time of Allah's Messenger, and they saw its two parts. Allah's Messenger said,
اشْهَدُوا (Be witnesses.''

Al-Bukhari and Muslim collected this Hadith.

Ibn Jarir recorded that Abdullah (Ibn Mas`ud) said,

"I saw the mountain between the two parts of the moon when it was split.''

Imam Ahmad recorded that Abdullah said,

"The moon was split during the time of Allah's Messenger and I saw the mount between its two parts."

The Stubbornness of the idolators

Allah said,

وَإِن يَرَوْا آيَةً ...

And if they see an Ayah,

if they see proof, evidence and a sign,

... يُعْرِضُوا ...

they turn away,

they do not believe in it. Rather, they turn away from it, abandoning it behind their backs,

... وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ

and say: "This is magic, Mustamir.''

They say, `the sign that we saw was magic, which was cast on us.'

Mustamir, means, `will soon go away', according to Mujahid, Qatadah and several others.

The Quraysh said that the cleaving of the moon was false and will soon diminish and fade away,