from ʿĪsā ibn Mūsā Ghunjār, from Raqabah, from Qays ibn Muslim, from Ṭāriq ibn Shihāb, who said:

“I heard ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ once stood before us and recounted the story of creation, continuing until the people of Paradise had entered their dwellings and the people of Hell their dwellings. Whoever retained that account retained it, and whoever forgot, forgot.”

This is how al-Bukhārī cited the report in a suspended (muʿallaq) form, employing a tentative expression, on the authority of [ʿĪsā] Ghunjār from Raqabah [that is, Ibn Muṣqalah. Abū Masʿūd al-Dimashqī said in “al-Aṭrāf”: “ʿĪsā Ghunjār only narrated it from Abū Ḥamzah, from Raqabah.”] (1) – and Allah knows best.

Abū Dāwūd, at the opening of the Book of Tribulations in his Sunan, said: ʿUthmān ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us; Jarīr narrated to us; from al-Aʿmash; from Abū Wāʾil; from Ḥudhayfah, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood among us, and he left nothing that would occur from that moment until the Hour without mentioning it. Whoever retained it, retained it, and whoever forgot, forgot. My companions here are aware of it. Indeed, when something of it happens, I recognize it just as a man recognizes another man’s face after being away from him; then, when he sees him, he knows him again.” Al-Bukhārī transmitted this wording through Sufyān al-Thawrī, and Muslim through Jarīr, both via al-Aʿmash. (2)

Imām Aḥmad said: ʿAbd al-Razzaq narrated to us; he said, Maʿmar informed us; from ʿAlī ibn Zayd; from Abū Naḍrah; from Abū Saʿīd, who said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us one day in the ʿaṣr prayer during daylight, then stood and addressed us until the sun set. He left out nothing that would occur until the Day of Resurrection without telling us about it: whoever retained it, retained it, and whoever forgot, forgot.

Among the things he said were:

‘O people, this world is green and sweet, and Allah is placing you in it as successive stewards to see how you will act. So beware of the world, and beware of women.’

He continued until, when the sun was about to set, he said:

‘What remains of this world compared to what has already passed is like what remains of this very day of yours compared to what has passed of it.’”

ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Judʿān al-Taymī is known for uncommon and objectionable reports, yet this ḥadith is corroborated by other routes.

A portion of it is also recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim through Abū Naḍrah from Abū Saʿīd. (3)

These narrations decisively indicate that what remains of the world’s lifespan, when measured against what has already elapsed, is exceedingly little. Even so, no one knows the precise measure of what remains—nor of what has already passed—except Allah, exalted is He. As for the calculations found in the writings of the Israelites and other People of the Book that assign the past a span of thousands or hundreds of years, more than one scholar has declared them erroneous and flawed, and they are fully deserving of that judgment.