They replied, “O Messenger of Allah, we do not feel disposed to give him anything.” The Prophet ﷺ then signaled to the wolf with three fingers—meaning, “Take from them by stealth.” The wolf turned away and trotted off (1).

This report, through this particular chain, is mursal. That wolf is like the wolf mentioned in the narration recorded by Imām Aḥmad (2). He said: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us; al-Qāsim ibn al-Faḍl al-Ḥuddānī (3) informed us, from Abū Naḍrah, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said:

A wolf attacked a ewe and seized it. The shepherd pursued the wolf and wrested the animal from it. The wolf then sat back on its tail and said, “Do you not fear Allah? You have taken from me a provision that Allah had sent to me.”

The shepherd exclaimed, “How amazing! A wolf sitting on its tail, speaking to me in human language!”

The wolf replied, “Shall I tell you something even more astonishing? Muḥammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, is at Yathrib informing people of what has already come to pass.”

The shepherd then drove his flock until he entered Madinah. He penned them in one of its corners, went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and told him what had happened.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered that the call be made: “Prayer in congregation!” He then came out and said to the Bedouin, “Tell them.” The man related the incident, after which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“He has spoken the truth. By the One in whose hand is my soul, the Hour will not be established until the beasts of prey speak to human beings, a man’s whip-cord and the strap of his sandal speak to him, and his own thigh informs him of what his family did after he left.”

Al-Tirmidhī (5) also transmitted it, through Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ, from his father, from al-Qāsim ibn al-Faḍl with this chain. He commented, “A ḥasan, gharīb, ṣaḥīḥ report; we know it only through the narration of al-Qāsim ibn al-Faḍl.” The hadith scholars deem him reliable and trustworthy; Yaḥyā and Ibn Mahdī declared him sound.

I (the author) say: Imām Aḥmad (6) likewise related it: Abū al-Yamān narrated to us, saying, Shuʿayb—that is, Ibn Abī Ḥamzah—told us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī al-Ḥusayn told me; Shahr (7) reported that Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī narrated the account to him at even greater length than what we have just cited. Aḥmad (8) also transmitted it: Abū al-Naḍr narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Bahram (9) narrated to us; Shahr narrated to us