—and that will be a time when no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before, nor earned any good through its faith (1).

Imam Aḥmad said: Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; Abū Ḥayyān narrated to us, from Abū Zurʿah ibn ʿAmr ibn Jarīr, who said:

Three Muslims once sat with Marwān in Madinah and heard him, while speaking about the portents, say, “The first of them will be the coming of the Dajjāl.” The three men then went to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr and informed him of what they had heard from Marwān regarding the signs. ʿAbd Allāh replied, “Marwān has said nothing. I have preserved from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ a ḥadīth on that matter which I have never forgotten:

‘I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “The first of the signs will be the sun’s rising from the west and the Beast’s emergence in the forenoon. Whichever of the two appears first, the other will follow closely thereafter.”’

ʿAbd Allāh—who used to read the earlier scriptures—then added: ‘I think the first of the two to occur will be the sun’s rising from the west. Whenever it sets, it goes beneath the Throne, prostrates, and seeks permission to return, and permission is granted. But when Allah wills that it rise from the west, it will do as it always does: it will go beneath the Throne, prostrate, and ask leave to return, but no reply will come. It will ask again, yet no reply will come; it will ask a third time, and still no reply will come. When as much of the night has passed as Allah wills and the sun realises that, even if permission were granted, it would not reach the east, it will say: “My Lord, how distant the east is! How shall I face the people?” When the horizon then looks like a ring, it will again ask leave to return, and it will be told: “Go back to where you are and rise.” So it will rise upon the people from the west.’ ʿAbd Allāh then recited: ‘On the Day when some of your Lord’s signs come, no soul will benefit from its faith if it had not believed before or earned any good through its faith’ (al-Anʿām 6:158).

This report was also recorded by Muslim in his Ṣaḥīḥ, by Abū Dāwūd, and by Ibn Mājah through the chain of Abū Ḥayyān Yahyā ibn Saʿīd ibn Ḥayyān, from Abū Zurʿah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, who said, ‘I have memorised from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ a ḥadīth which I have never forgotten…,’ and he mentioned it as above (2).

We have already explained that the “signs” (āyāt) intended here are the extraordinary events that contradict ordinary experience. The Beast’s appearance is such an event, for it will distinguish the believer from the unbeliever and will speak to people—an astounding break with the norm. Likewise, the sun’s rising from the west is a most remarkable phenomenon. Hence, the Beast is the first of the earthly signs, while the sun’s rising from the west is the first of the heavenly signs. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr thought that the sun’s rising from the west would precede the Beast’s emergence—a view that is possible and fitting; Allah knows best.

A solitary report on this matter has also been transmitted by al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū al-Qāsim al-Ṭabarānī in his Muʿjam. He said: “Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Khālid ibn Ḥayyān al-Raqqī narrated to us; Isḥāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Zabriq al-Ḥimṣī narrated to us; …”