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and Allah will, through him, reconcile two great factions of the Muslims.”
I say: This came to pass exactly as he foretold, some thirty years after the Messenger’s death—in the year 40 AH—when Allah, through al-Ḥasan, reconciled the two great armies that had confronted each other at Ṣiffīn: the forces of ʿAlī and the forces of Muʿāwiyah.
Both Ṣaḥīḥs also report—on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās—that “a man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I saw last night in…’”
وَسَيُصْلِحُ اللَّهُ بِهِ بَيْنَ فِئَتَيْنِ عَظِيمَتَيْنِ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ» .
قُلْتُ:
فَوَقَعَ هَذَا كَمَا أَخْبَرَ بِهِ، بَعْدَ مَوْتِ الرَّسُولِ بِنَحْوِ ثَلَاثِينَ سَنَةً، وَهُوَ سَنَةُ أَرْبَعِينَ مِنَ الْهِجْرَةِ، لَمَّا أَصْلَحَ اللَّهُ بِالْحَسَنِ بَيْنَ الْفِئَتَيْنِ الْعَظِيمَتَيْنِ اللَّتَيْنِ كَانَتَا مُتَحَارِبَتَيْنِ بِصِفِّينَ، عَسْكَرِ عَلِيٍّ، وَعَسْكَرِ مُعَاوِيَةَ.
وَفِي الصَّحِيحَيْنِ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ «أَنَّ رَجُلًا أَتَى النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ:
يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ اللَّيْلَةَ فِي