Imam Ahmad also narrated from Abd Allah ibn Amr, who said that the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “The signs are beads strung upon a cord; if the cord is cut, they will follow one another.” (1)

It appears to me—and Allah knows best—that these signs refer to the major signs of the Hour, for the apparent meaning of these hadiths indicates that they will appear in extremely close succession.

This is supported by what was previously mentioned concerning the order of the major signs of the Hour: some hadiths state that several of these signs will appear within a short span of time. The first major sign after the Mahdi will be the appearance of the False Messiah, followed by the descent of Jesus—peace be upon him—to kill him. Gog and Magog will then emerge, and Jesus—peace be upon him—will supplicate against them, whereupon Allah will destroy them. Jesus—peace be upon him—then said: “Among what my Lord, Glorious and Exalted, has disclosed to me is that, when this occurs, the Hour will be like a woman at full term, whose family do not know whether her delivery will take them by surprise by night or by day.” (2)

This shows just how imminent the Hour will be, for between the death of Jesus—peace be upon him—