“The signs are portents of the Hour: some indicate that it is near, while others indicate that it is occurring. The former include the False Messiah, the descent of Jesus, Gog and Magog, and the sinking of the earth. The latter include the Smoke, the sun rising from the west, the emergence of the Beast, and the Fire that will gather the people.” (1)

This establishes an order between one group of signs and another, without addressing the order of the signs included within those two groups. Nevertheless, it appears to me that al-Tībī regards the signs as occurring in the order in which he mentioned them under each category. The division he adopted is sound and precise. When the first category—which indicates that the Hour is exceedingly near—appears, it will awaken people so that they may repent and return to their Lord. At that point, no distinction will yet have been made between believer and unbeliever. I have already mentioned that the signs he listed under the first category are arranged according to the order in which they will occur. He also added the sinkings of the earth, which are appropriately included among them.

When, however, the second category—which indicates that the Hour is occurring—appears, people will be distinguished as believers and unbelievers. As will be explained, when the Smoke appears, the believer will be afflicted by something resembling a cold, whereas the unbeliever will swell up because of that Smoke. Then the sun will rise from