In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy.

Allah is sufficient for us, and He is the best Trustee.

All praise is due to Allah, and peace be upon the servants whom He has chosen.

To proceed:

This is Kitab al-Fitan wa’l-Malahim (1)—the Book of Trials and Epic Battles that will take place at the end of time, as foretold by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. It also sets out the portents of the Hour and the tremendous events that will precede the Day of Resurrection—matters we are obliged to believe in, exactly as they were conveyed by the Truthful, the Confirmed One who does not speak from whim; it is nothing but revelation sent down.

In the earlier parts of this work we have already recorded his ﷺ reports concerning past unseen realities. We presented them in the sections on the beginning of creation, the stories of the prophets, and the chronicles of humankind up to our own age. We then followed that with an account of his ﷺ biography and days, his noble qualities, and the proofs of his prophethood. There we also cited the unseen matters he foretold that later came to pass in precise conformity with his prediction, events witnessed with one’s own eyes before our time. All of this was gathered at the end of the Book of the Proofs of Prophethood within his ﷺ biography. For every period we mentioned the specific hadiths relating to it while detailing the events of each era and the passing of notable individuals. Year by year we described extraordinary happenings and provided notices of those who died in that year—among them Companions, caliphs, kings, viziers, governors, jurists, righteous men, poets, grammarians, litterateurs, theologians of various persuasions, and other eminent figures. Reproducing here all of the hadiths already cited would make this volume unduly long, so we shall merely allude to them briefly and then return to our present purpose; upon Allah alone we rely for help.

Among those reports is his ﷺ statement to the woman to whom he said,

“Return to me.”

She asked, “What if I do not find you?”—hinting at his death. He replied,

“If you do not find me, then go to Abu Bakr.” Al-Bukhari recorded it (2), and thus the one who assumed authority after him was Abu Bakr.

Another is his ﷺ remark, when he intended to write a document appointing the Truthful One—Abu Bakr—as successor but then refrained, knowing that his Companions would not turn from Abu Bakr to anyone else, being fully aware of his precedence and superiority (may Allah be pleased with him):

“Allah, together with the believers, refuses anyone but Abu Bakr.” And so it came to pass; this report is also in al-Ṣaḥīḥ (3).

Yet another is his ﷺ saying,

“Follow the two who come after me: Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.” It was narrated by Ahmad, Ibn Mājah, and al-Tirmidhī—who judged it sound—and Ibn Ḥibbān authenticated it; it comes through the transmission of Ḥudhayfah ibn