And Imām Aḥmad said:

Yahyā ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us, Qays narrated to us. He said:

“When ʿĀʾishah—on her march to the Battle of the Camel—reached the watering-places of Banū ʿĀmir during the night, the dogs began to bark. She asked, ‘What water is this?’ They replied, ‘The water of al-Hawʾab.’ She said, ‘I think I must turn back.’ Someone with her remarked, ‘Rather, go forward so the Muslims may see you and Allah may reconcile them through you.’ She responded, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ once said to me, “How will it be with one of you when the dogs of al-Hawʾab bark at her?”’(1)

Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād also recorded it in al-Malāḥim, through Yazīd ibn Hārūn, from Ismāʿīl ibn Khālid, from Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim, with the same wording.(2)

Aḥmad further transmitted it through Ghundar, from Shuʿbah, from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, from Qays ibn Abī Ḥāzim: When ʿĀʾishah reached al-Hawʾab and heard the barking of the dogs she said, ‘I think I must turn back, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to us, “Which one of you will the dogs of al-Hawʾab bark at?”’ al-Zubayr said to her, ‘Will you turn back? Perhaps Allah will reconcile the people through you.’(3) This chain fulfils the conditions set by al-Bukhārī and Muslim, yet they did not include it.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bazzār said: ‘Muḥammad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Karāmah narrated to us; ʿUbaydullāh ibn Mūsā narrated to us, from ʿiṣām ibn Qudāmah al-Bajalī, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Would that I knew which of you will be the rider of the shaggy camel, travelling until the dogs of al-Hawʾab bark at her; to her right and to her left a great many people will be killed.”’(5) He then added, ‘We do not know this report from Ibn ʿAbbās except through this chain.’

Al-Ṭabarānī said: ‘Ibrāhīm ibn Nāʾilah al-Aṣbahānī narrated to us; Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAmr al-Bajalī narrated to us; Nūḥ ibn Darrāj narrated to us, from al-Aʿjlah ibn ʿAbdullāh, from Zayd ibn ʿAlī, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

When ʿAlī’s forces set out for Basra and learned that the people of Basra had rallied around Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr, they were distressed and anxiety filled their hearts. ʿAlī declared, ‘By Him besides Whom there is no god, Allah will certainly grant me dominance over the people of Basra; Ṭalḥah and al-Zubayr will surely be killed, and from Kūfah there will march out to you six thousand five hundred and fifty men—or five thousand five hundred and fifty men,’—al-Aʿjlah was unsure which figure.

Ibn ʿAbbās continued: ‘This remained in my mind. When I reached Kūfah I went out, saying, “I must see for myself; if events unfold as he said, then it is something he heard, otherwise it is merely a stratagem of war.” I met a man from the army and asked him, and, by Allah, he had scarcely spoken before he repeated exactly what ʿAlī had said.’ Ibn ʿAbbās added, ‘And that was precisely what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to foretell.’(6)