any dwelling—whether a house of clay-brick or a tent of woven hair—without Allah causing this religion to enter it, either with the honor of one who is honored or the humiliation of one who is humiliated: an honor by which Allah exalts Islam and a humiliation by which He debases disbelief.” (1)
The Muslims will then return strong in morale, in material means, and in weaponry, so that they will be able to overcome the forces of unbelief and tyranny—just as the Messenger of Allah ﷺ foretold. The earth will lay bare its bounties and blessings, and the Muslims will live in security and faith, comfort and tranquility, until ʿĪsā (Jesus), son of Mary—peace be upon him—passes away. Thereafter, trials will spread everywhere, and there is no power and no might except with Allah.
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—also addressed several end-time tribulations: the emergence of Gog and Magog, and other tremendous afflictions of that era; the appearance of the Smoke; the fire that will rise from the depths of ʿAdan and drive the people forward—at whose outbreak they are to seek refuge in the lands of Greater Syria, for it will be farther from the turmoil than any other region. He further mentioned among the portents of the Hour the rising of the sun from the west, the final of the great signs heralding the coming of the Hour.
He likewise dealt with the Trumpet (ṣūr) and the Stun-ning Blast; he cited hadiths about resurrection and revival, that mankind will be raised on the Day of Resurrection barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised. He described the terrors of that Day; the Praiseworthy Station reserved exclusively for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; the reports on the Prophet’s Pond; the Bridge (ṣirāṭ); the manner in which people will be gathered; the nature of Hellfire and the punishments it contains; and the hadiths on the intercession of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on that Day. He also portrayed Paradise and its bliss—its trees, its plantations, and its fruits—affirming that the highest rank therein belongs to Muḥammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and that his community will form the majority of Paradise’s inhabitants. And he covered other matters related to Paradise and its people. May Allah reward him with the best of rewards and gather us and him on the Day of Resurrection among those upon whom Allah has bestowed His favor—the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs, and the righteous. Excellent indeed are such companions. That is pure grace from Allah, and sufficient is Allah as All-Knowing.
[Method of Verification]
In preparing this portion of the book we relied on several printed editions and collated them with the manuscript housed in the Aḥmadiyya Library in Aleppo, which we have designated (A). Although complete, this copy contains interpolated additions—marginal comments by certain scholars—and numerous errors. During the verification process we also obtained, through our son and dear student Mr. Maḥmūd al-Arnāʾūṭ, a microfilm of a fine manuscript originating from Fez, Morocco, now preserved in the collection of the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts in Cairo. His diligence in presenting the book in the best possible form—may Allah reward him abundantly and benefit others through him—enabled us to consult this valuable copy, which had been transcribed from a manuscript read out to the author himself and likewise bears marginal notes.