ready to flee, because of what he had heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the calamity that would come at the hands of the Turks.

Abu Dawud also transmitted this report in the Book of Malāḥim of his Sunan, through Jaʿfar ibn Musāfir, from Khallād ibn Yaḥyā, from Bashīr ibn al-Muhājir (1). Abu Yaʿlā likewise related it from him with the same chain, and in his wording it states:

“A people with small eyes and broad faces, as though their faces were burnished shields. They will drive the Muslims to the land where the wormwood grows three times. The first time, all who flee them will escape; the second time, some will be saved while others will perish; and the third time, they will be annihilated completely. It is as though I can already see them having tethered their horses to the columns of the mosque.”

They asked, “Who are they, O Messenger of Allah?” He replied, “They are the Turks.” (2)

The ḥadith of Abū Bakrah al-Thaqafī on the same matter:

Imam Aḥmad said: “Abū al-Naḍr Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim narrated to us; al-Ḥashraj ibn Nubāta al-Qaysī al-Kūfī (3) narrated to us; Saʿīd ibn Jumhān (4) narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakrah related to us—my father told me here in this very mosque of Basra—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

‘A group from my community will certainly settle in a land called Basra. Their numbers and their date-palms will become many there. Then the Banū Qanṭurā—broad-faced, small-eyed—will come until they camp at a bridge of theirs called the Tigris. The Muslims will split into three groups: one group will seize the tails of the camels and head for the desert, and they will be destroyed; another group will look only to save themselves, and they will fall into disbelief—these and the former are alike; and a third group will place their families behind them and fight them. Those who are killed among them are martyrs, and Allah will grant victory to the rest of them.’ ”

Abu Dawud also recorded it in the Book of Malāḥim, through Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Fāris, from ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith, from his father, from Saʿīd ibn Jumhān (5): Muslim ibn Abī Bakrah narrated to us, from his father, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Some people of my ummah will settle in a low-lying place (6) which they will call Basra, by a river called the Tigris, upon which a bridge will be built for them. Its inhabitants will be numerous, and it will be one of the garrison towns of the Emigrants”—in another version: “of the Muslims”—“When the end of time approaches, the Banū Qanṭurā—broad-faced, small-eyed—will come until they camp on the riverbank. The Emigrants will divide into three parties: a party that clings to the tails of cattle and heads for the wilderness, and they will be destroyed; a party that seeks only to save themselves, and they will fall into disbelief; and a party that puts their children behind them and fights them, and they are the martyrs.” (7)

The ḥadith of Anas mentioning Basra—which was founded during the caliphate of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—has already been cited. (8)