—al-Ashʿarī, from Masʿūd ibn Sulaymān, from Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, from Mujāhid, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said about the Dajjāl:

“Whatever of him may confuse you, know that Allah—glorified be He—is not one-eyed. The Dajjāl will emerge and remain on earth for forty mornings. He will enter every water source except the Kaʿbah, the Sacred House in Jerusalem, and Madinah. During that time a month will seem like a week, and a week like a single day. He will come with a ‘Paradise’ and a ‘Fire’: his fire is Paradise and his paradise is Fire. He will also have a mountain of bread and a river of water. He will summon a man—over whom Allah will give him power and no one else—and say, ‘What do you think of me?’ The man will answer, ‘You are the enemy of Allah; you are the lying Dajjāl.’ The Dajjāl will then bring a saw, [fayaḍaʿuhu ḥadhwa raʾsihi] (placing it level with the man’s head), saw him in two, and then bring him back to life. He will ask again, ‘What do you think of me?’ and the man will reply, ‘By Allah, I have never been more certain about you than I am now: you are the enemy of Allah—the Dajjāl about whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ informed us.’ The Dajjāl will then lunge at him with his sword but will be unable to harm him, and will say, ‘Remove him from my sight.’”

Our teacher al-Dhahabī said: “This ḥadith is odd, and Masʿūd is unknown.” A report from Yaʿqūb ibn ʿĀṣim about the Dajjāl’s stay on earth and the descent of Jesus son of Mary will appear later.

Hadith of Asmāʾ bint Yazīd ibn al-Sakan al-Anṣāriyya

Imam Aḥmad said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us; Maʿmar narrated to us, from Qatādah, from Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, from Asmāʾ bint Yazīd al-Anṣāriyya, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in my house when he mentioned the Dajjāl and said:

“Before his appearance there will be three years [of hardship]. In the first year the sky will withhold one-third of its rain and the earth one-third of its vegetation. In the second year the sky will withhold two-thirds of its rain and the earth two-thirds of its vegetation. In the third year the sky will withhold all its rain and the earth all its vegetation, and no creature with molars or hooves will survive; all will perish. One of the gravest aspects of his trial is that he will come to a Bedouin and say, ‘If I bring your camels back to life for you, will you not know that I am your Lord?’ He will answer, ‘Indeed.’ Then devils will appear to him in the likeness of his camels, with the fullest udders and the largest humps. He will come to a man whose brother and father have died and say, ‘If I revive your father and revive your brother for you, will you not know that I am your Lord?’ He will answer, ‘Indeed,’ whereupon devils will appear to him in the likeness of his father and brother.”

She continued: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then went out to attend to something, and when he returned the people were anxious and distressed by what he had told them. She said: He grasped the two jambs (1) of the door and said, “What is the matter, Asmāʾ?” I replied, “O Messenger of Allah, you have torn our hearts by mentioning the Dajjāl.” He said:

“If he emerges while I am alive, I will contend with him myself; but if he appears after my death, then my Lord will be the guardian of every believer.”

Asmāʾ asked, “O Messenger of Allah, by Allah we knead our dough but cannot bake it before we grow hungry—how will the believers manage on that day?” He replied:

“It will suffice them what suffices the inhabitants of heaven: tasbīḥ (glorifying Allah) and taqdīs (declaring His holiness).”

Aḥmad also related it through Yazīd ibn Hārūn, from Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, from Qatādah, from Shahr, from her.