he will tilt one side of his head to listen (1) and raise the other,” he said. “The first person to hear it will be a man who is plastering the watering-trough of his camels,” he added. “He will fall unconscious, and the people will fall unconscious with him. Then Allah will send— or he said: Allah will bring down— a rain like fine mist or like shade” (Nuʿmān, the narrator, was uncertain), “and from it people’s bodies will spring forth. The Trumpet will then be blown a second time, and suddenly they will be standing, looking on. It will be proclaimed, ‘O people, come to your Lord: ‘And stop them; indeed, they are to be questioned.’ ⦗24⦘ [al-Ṣāffāt]. Then it will be said, ‘Bring forth the contingent for Hell.’ They will ask, ‘From how many?’ It will be answered, ‘From every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.’ That,” he said, “is the Day when ‘…it will turn children’s hair white,’ and, ‘…the Day when the shin will be laid bare.’” (2)

Imam Aḥmad said: Surayj related to us; Fulayḥ related to us, from al-Ḥārith ibn Fuḍayl, from Ziyād ibn Saʿd, from Abū Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The son of Mary will descend as a just imām and an equitable judge. He will break the cross, kill the swine, restore peace, swords will be turned into pruning-hooks, the venom of every venomous creature will disappear, the sky will pour forth its provision, and the earth will bring out its blessings, until a child can play with a snake and it will not harm him, the sheep will graze beside the wolf and it will not injure them, and the lion will guard the cattle without harming them.” This report is unique to Aḥmad, and its chain of transmission is good, strong, and acceptable. (3)

Al-Bukhārī said: Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm related to us; Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us; my father related to us, from Ṣāliḥ, from Ibn Shihāb, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“By the One in whose hand is my soul, it will not be long before the son of Mary descends among you as a just arbiter. He will break the cross, slay the swine, abolish the jizyah, and wealth will overflow until no one will accept it, so that a single prostration will be better than the world and all it contains.” Abū Hurayrah would then say, “Read, if you wish: ‘There is none of the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.’ ⦗159⦘ [al-Nisāʾ].”

Muslim likewise narrated it from Ḥasan al-Ḥulwānī and ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, both through Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm, and they both also recorded it through Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah and al-Layth ibn Saʿd, from al-Zuhrī, with this wording. (4)

Abū Bakr ibn Mardawayh transmitted—through the route of Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥafṣah—from al-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“It is soon that the son of Mary will be among you as a just judge: he will kill the Dajjāl, kill the swine, break the cross, abolish the jizyah, wealth will overflow, and prostration will be a single act devoted to Allah, Lord of all worlds.” Abū Hurayrah would then add, “Recite, if you wish: ‘There is none of the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in him before his death,’—that is, the death of Jesus son of Mary,” and Abū Hurayrah repeated this three times.