A neighbour of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to me:
“I returned from a journey and Jābir came to greet me. I began to tell him about how the people had split and the novelties they had introduced. Jābir started to weep and then said, ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
“People entered the religion of Allah in multitudes, and they will leave it in multitudes.”’ (1)

Aḥmad said: Yaḥyā ibn Isḥāq narrated to us; Ibn Lahiʿah narrated to us; Abū Yūnus narrated to us from Abū Hurayrah. Ḥasan likewise said: Ibn Lahiʿah narrated to us; Abū Yūnus narrated to us from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
“Woe to the Arabs for an evil that is drawing near: tribulations (fitan) like patches of a pitch-black night. A man will wake a believer and reach the evening a disbeliever. A people will sell their religion for a paltry share of this world. On that day the one who holds fast to his faith will be like one who grips a burning coal,”—or he said, “a thorn.” Ḥasan in his version added: “like someone thrashing about in thorns.” (2)

Aḥmad also said: Abū Jaʿfar al-Madāʾinī narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn Ḥabīb al-Azdī narrated to us, from his father Ḥabīb ibn ʿAbd Allāh, from Shubayl ibn ʿAwf, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say to Thawbān,
“How will you be, O Thawbān, when the nations invite one another against you as diners invite each other to a dish, each taking from it?”
Thawbān replied, “May my father and mother be ransoms for you, O Messenger of Allah! Will that be because we are few?”
He said, “No. On that day you will be many, but wahn will be cast into your hearts.”
They asked, “What is wahn, O Messenger of Allah?”
He said, “Your love for the worldly life and your dislike for fighting.” (3)

Imām Aḥmad said: ʿAbd al-Razzaq narrated to us; Maʿmar narrated to us from a man, from ʿAmr ibn Wābiṣa al-Asadī, from his father, who said:
I was in my house in Kūfa when I heard at the door, “Peace be upon you—may I enter?” I replied, “Peace be upon you—enter.” When he came in, it was ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd. I said, “Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, what an hour for a visit!”—and it was about midday. He said, “The day felt long, so I looked for someone to talk to.” He began narrating to me from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I to him, until he commenced another report, saying:
“I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
‘There will be a tribulation (fitnah): the one who is asleep during it is better than the one lying awake; the one lying down is better than the one sitting; the one sitting is better than the one standing; the one standing is better than the one walking; the one walking is better than the one riding; and the one riding is better than the one spurring his mount (4). All who are killed in it will be in the Fire.’”
I asked, “O Messenger of Allah, when will that be?”
He replied, “During the days of rampant killing (al-harj).”
I asked, “And when are the days of harj?”
He said, “When a man no longer feels safe with the one sitting beside him.”
I asked, “What do you command me to do if I reach that time?”
He said, “Restrain yourself and your hand, and enter your house.”
I said, “O Messenger of Allah, suppose someone follows me into my house?”
He said: