…ʿAbd Allāh—one of that clan—was walking with him on a stretch of the road to Mecca and said:

“Al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib told me that he once sent his son ʿAbd Allāh to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on an errand. When ʿAbd Allāh arrived, he found a man sitting with the Prophet, so he turned back without addressing him out of deference to the man’s presence. Later al-ʿAbbās met the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and informed him of what had happened. The Prophet asked, ‘Did he see him?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ The Prophet then said, ‘Do you know who that man was? That was Gabriel. He (ʿAbd Allāh) will not die until he loses his eyesight and is granted knowledge.’” (2)

Ibn ʿAbbās indeed died in 68 AH (3), after he had gone blind—may Allah be pleased with him.

Al-Bayhaqī also relates (4)—through al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān, from Nabātah bint Burayd, from Ḥamādah, from Anīsah bint Zayd ibn Arqam, from her father—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ visited Zayd while he was ill and said, “There is no grave danger in this illness of yours, but what will you do when you live on after me and go blind?” Zayd replied, “Then I will seek my reward from Allah and remain patient.” The Prophet said, “In that case you will enter Paradise without reckoning.” She continued, “After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, he did in fact go blind; then Allah restored his sight, and afterwards he died.” That happened in the year 68 AH (5).

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It is established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from Abū Hurayrah—and in Muslim from Jābir ibn Samurah—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Ahead of the Hour there will arise thirty impostors, every one of them claiming that he is a prophet.” (6)

Al-Bayhaqī further reports (7)—through al-Mālinī, from Abū Aḥmad ibn ʿAdiyy, from Abū Yaʿlā al-Mawṣilī: ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah told us, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Asadī told us, Shurayk narrated to us, from Abū Isḥāq, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The Hour will not be established until thirty great liars appear—among them Musaylimah, al-ʿAnsī, and al-Mukhtār. The most wicked of the Arab clans are Banū Umayyah, Banū Ḥanīfah, and Thaqīf.” Ibn ʿAdiyy (8) remarked, “Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan has some isolated reports, yet trustworthy narrators relate from him, and I find no fault in his ḥadīths.” Al-Bayhaqī added, “There are sound corroborations for his narration regarding al-Mukhtār.”