likewise, the Hour is like a woman who has reached full term in her pregnancy: her household never knows when birth-pangs will take them by surprise—whether by night or by day. (1)
Imam Aḥmad said: Muḥammad ibn Bishr narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from Ibn Ḥarmalah, from his maternal aunt, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ delivered a sermon while one of his fingers was wrapped after a scorpion had stung him. He said, ‘You say, “We have no enemy,” yet you will continue to fight an enemy until Gog and Magog appear—broad-faced, small-eyed, with reddish-blond tufts of hair (2). They will surge down from every rise, and their faces will be like hammered shields (3).’”
I say: Gog and Magog are two immense tribes of the Turks whose number is known only to Allah, exalted be He. They are descendants of Adam—may Allah have mercy on them—as is confirmed in the authentic ḥadīth:
“Allah—exalted is He—will say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘O Adam!’ He will reply, ‘Here I am, ready to obey You and at Your service.’ Then a voice will call out, ‘Send forth the contingent destined for the Fire from among your offspring.’ Adam will ask, ‘How many are they?’ He will be told, ‘Out of every thousand, nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine will be in the Fire and one in Paradise.’ On that day the child will turn gray-haired and every pregnant woman will miscarry. It will then be said, ‘Rejoice, for among Gog and Magog you have your ransom.’”
In another wording:
“It will be said, ‘Among you are two nations who, whenever they enter into something, make it numerous: Gog and Magog.’” (4)
We shall cite this ḥadīth later with its various chains and wordings.
They are also descended from Ḥawwāʾ (Eve). Some have claimed that they come from Adam alone and not from Eve, saying that Adam experienced a nocturnal emission, his semen mixed with the earth, and from that Allah created Gog and Magog. There is no proof for this, nor has it been transmitted from anyone whose statement must be accepted. Allah knows best.
They are from the progeny of Noah—peace be upon him—through his son Yāfith, the forefather of the Turks. They used to spread corruption on earth and harm its people, so Allah, exalted is He, commanded Dhū al-Qarnayn to confine them behind the barrier until He permits them to emerge; when that happens, their affair will be as described in the ḥadīths.
They are human beings who resemble other people, like their kinsmen among the turk al-ghutm (5) and the Mongols: their eyes are slit, their noses snub, and their hair reddish-blond, with the same variety of shapes and colors found among mankind. Whoever asserts that some of them are as tall as a lofty palm tree (6)—or taller—or that others are as tiny as a small object, or that some possess two ears, one of which serves as a cloak while the other is a mat, is speaking without knowledge and adduces no proof. A report does state that none of them dies until he has seen a thousand of his descendants, but Allah knows best whether it is authentic.