, lives, and fruits, while treasures will follow him, clustering around him as bees cluster around their queens. He will kill that young man and then bring him back to life. None of this is mere sleight of hand; rather, it is real, and Allah will use it to test His servants at the end of time. Through it He will cause many to go astray and guide many: the doubters will disbelieve, while those who believe will increase in faith.” (1)

Al-Hāfiz Ibn Hajar said: “Yet the Dajjāl himself bears clear evidence of his falsehood for anyone who reasons: he is composed of constituent parts, the signs that he has been fashioned are plainly visible upon him, and so is his defect, evident in the impairment of his eyes. When he calls people to believe that he is their Lord, even the least discerning rational person who sees him will know that he could not have fashioned, proportioned, and perfected others while being unable to remove his own deficiency. At the very least, he should say: ‘O you who claim to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth! Fashion yourself, proportion yourself, and remove your impairment. If you claim that the Lord does not effect any change in Himself, then erase what is written between your eyes.’” (2)

Ibn al-Arabī (3) said: “The signs that appear at the hands of the Dajjāl—rainfall and abundance for those who believe him, drought for those who deny him, the earth’s treasures following him, and the garden, fire, and flowing waters he has with him—are all a trial and a test from Allah, so that the doubter may perish and the person of certainty be saved. All of this is terrifying, and for this reason