between us and him; and if the matter turns out otherwise, then it is your own land and your tribes should you return to it.” (1)

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Bahāʾ al-Dīn Ibn ʿAsākir relates in his book Al-Mustaqṣā fī Faḍāʾil al-Aqṣā, through his chain of transmitters, from al-Awzāʿī, from Khālid ibn Maʿdān, from Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, that he said:

“Constantinople exulted over the destruction of Bayt al-Maqdis—in the time of Nebuchadnezzar—so it took pride in itself, grew tyrannical and held its head high. Allah, exalted is He, therefore named it ‘the rebellious, arrogant one.’ As it gloated over Bayt al-Maqdis it boasted, ‘If the Throne of my Lord was upon water, then I too have been built upon water.’ Allah became angry with it and promised it punishment and ruin, saying:

‘I swear, O haughty city! Because you have defied My command and waxed arrogant, I shall surely send against you believing servants of Mine from the dwellings of Sabaʾ. I shall fortify their hearts until they become like the hearts of ravenous lions, and I shall make the voice of each of them in battle like the roar of a lion emerging from the thicket. I shall cast terror into the hearts of your people like the terror felt by a sparrow; then I shall strip you of your ornaments, your silks and your finery, and I shall leave you bald, denuded and bare. For long have partners been ascribed to Me in your midst, other than Me has been worshipped, and falsehood has been forged against Me. I have granted you respite until the day of your dishonour; so do not hurry, O insolent one—for nothing I seek will escape Me.’

Imam Aḥmad said: Abū Aḥmad narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn al-ʿAbbās al-Shibāmī narrated to us, from Abū Qays—ʿAbd al-Jabbār said, ‘I think it was from Huzayl’—who said: Ḥudhayfah once stood to address the people in the house of ʿĀmir (2) ibn Ḥanẓalah, where both the Yemenite (3) and the Muḍarī were present. He declared:

“A day will surely come upon Muḍar when they will not leave a single servant of Allah who worships Him without killing him, or else they will be struck with a blow that would not spare even the tail of a mountain pass.”

Someone said, “O Abū ʿAbd Allāh, are you saying this to your own people—or to people of whom you are one?” He replied, “I only say what I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say.” (4)

Imam Aḥmad also said: Abū al-Naḍr narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Thābit ibn Thawbān narrated to us, from his father, from Makḥūl, from Jubayr ibn Nufayr, from Mālik ibn Yuʿkhāmir, from Muʿādh ibn Jabal, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ proclaimed:

“The flourishing of Bayt al-Maqdis will be the ruin of Yathrib; the ruin of Yathrib will herald the outbreak of the Great Battle (al-Malḥama); the outbreak of the Great Battle will lead to the conquest of Constantinople; and the conquest of Constantinople will be followed by the emergence of the Dajjal.”

He then struck the thigh—or the shoulder—of the narrator and said, “This is as certain as that you are here,” or, “as certain as that you are sitting,” referring to Muʿādh ibn Jabal.

Abū Dāwūd transmitted it likewise from ʿAbbās al-ʿAnbarī, from Abū al-Naḍr Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim. The chain is sound and the ḥadith is ḥasan; it bears the light of truth and the majesty of Prophethood. (5)