It was also reported earlier, in the narration of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ādam from Abū Hurayrah:

“He will surely descend. When you see him, know him: a man of medium stature, with a complexion tending toward fairness and ruddiness, dressed in two garments lightly tinted with saffron. It will appear as though water is dripping from his head although no moisture has touched it. He will break the cross, kill the swine, abolish the jizyah, call people to Islam, and—by Allah’s leave—every creed will perish in his time except Islam. During his days Allah will destroy the Antichrist. Then security will settle upon the earth: lions will graze alongside camels, leopards with cattle, wolves with sheep, and children will play with serpents without being harmed. He will remain for forty years; after that he will die and the Muslims will offer the funeral prayer over him.” Reported by Aḥmad and Abū Dāwūd (1).

Thus this ḥadith states that he will stay on earth for forty years. Yet in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, it is affirmed that he will remain for seven years (2). At first glance these two reports seem conflicting, unless the seven years are understood as the period he spends on earth after his descent, while the remainder refers to the years he lived before he was raised up. According to the well-known view, he was thirty-three years old when he was taken up, and adding those seven completes forty. This, then, is the span of his earthly life—before his ascension and after his return—whereas his stay in heaven prior to descending is far longer. Allah knows best.

Authentic reports further state that Gog and Magog will emerge during his lifetime and that, through the blessing of his supplication, Allah will annihilate them in a single night, as has been mentioned and will be detailed later. It is likewise established that he will perform the pilgrimage while residing on earth after his descent.

Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī said: In the revealed scriptures it is recorded that the Companions of the Cave will be among his close followers and that they will perform ḥajj with him. Al-Qurṭubī cited this in the section on battles at the end of his book al-Tadhkira fī Aḥwāl al-Ākhira. His death will occur in the Prophetic City; there he will be prayed over and buried in the Noble Chamber.

The ḥadith master Abū al-Qāsim Ibn ʿAsākir mentioned the same, and Abū ʿĪsā al-Tirmidhī transmitted it in his Jāmiʿ on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām. In the Book of Merits he said: “Zayd ibn Akhzam al-Ṭāʾī al-Baṣrī narrated to us; Abū Qutaybah Salm ibn Qutaybah narrated to us; Abū Mawdūd al-Madani narrated to us; ʿUthmān ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: ‘It is written in the Torah: the description of Muḥammad, and that Jesus son of Mary will be buried with him.’” Abū Mawdūd added, “There still remains in the house space for a grave.” He then remarked, “This is a ḥasan gharīb ḥadith.” Such were the words of ʿUthmān ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk, whereas the well-known form is al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿUthmān al-Madani. This concludes what al-Tirmidhī (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded (3).

Al-Ṭabarānī also transmitted—through ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nāfiʿ, from ʿUthmān ibn al-Ḍaḥḥāk, from Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf ibn