Muslim (1) has likewise transmitted the report, through Ḥarmalah, from Ibn Wahb, from Yūnus, with the same chain.

Al-Bukhārī (2) says: “Qabīṣah narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, from Jābir ibn Samurah, in a Prophetic report:

‘When Chosroes dies there will be no Chosroes after him, and when Caesar dies there will be no Caesar after him,’

and he added:

‘Their treasures will most certainly be expended in the path of Allah.’ ”

Al-Bukhārī and Muslim have also recorded the ḥadīth through Jarīr (3), and al-Bukhārī and Abū ʿAwānah note that all three narrators relate it from ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr with the same chain.

The fulfilment of this prophecy came soon afterwards, in the days of the three caliphs Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān. Those realms were securely conquered at the hands of the Muslims, and the wealth of Caesar, emperor of Byzantium, and Chosroes, king of Persia, was spent in the cause of Allah, as we shall relate in due course, if Allah so wills.

This ḥadīth, therefore, contains a momentous glad-tiding for the Muslims: the Persian sovereignty has been cut off never to return, and Byzantine rule over Syria has vanished never to be restored. All praise and grace belong to Allah.

It further attests to the legitimacy of the caliphates of Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān, and to their justice, for the spoils seized in their time were disbursed in Allah’s cause in a manner that is both praiseworthy and pleasing.

Al-Bukhārī (4) also reports: “Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥakam narrated to us; al-Naḍr narrated to us; Isrāʾīl narrated to us; Saʿd al-Ṭāʾī narrated to us; Muḥill ibn Khalīfah informed us, from ʿAdiyy ibn Ḥātim, who said:

While I was with the Prophet ﷺ, a man came and complained to him of poverty, then another came and complained of highway robbery. He ﷺ said:

‘ʿAdiyy, have you seen al-Ḥīrah?’

I replied, ‘I have not seen it, but I have heard about it.’

He said, ‘If you live long enough you will surely see a woman set out from al-Ḥīrah and circumambulate the Kaʿbah, fearing none but Allah—Majestic is He.’

I said to myself, ‘So where are the marauders of Ṭayy (5) who have been ravaging the countryside?’

He then said, ‘And if you live long enough, you will certainly open the treasuries of Chosroes.’”