ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Aḥmad al-Mulayḥī informed us: Abū Maʿshar Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Warrāq informed us; Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā informed us; Abū al-Ṣalt informed us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd informed us; ʿAlī ibn Zayd informed us, from Abū Naḍrah, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, once stood among us after the afternoon prayer. He left nothing that would occur until the Day of Resurrection without mentioning it during that address, until the sun reached the tops of the palm trees and the edges of the walls. He said: “Indeed, of this world, nothing remains in comparison with what has passed except as much as remains of this day of yours. Indeed, this community completes seventy communities; it is the last of them, the best of them, and the most honoured of them before Allah Most High.” (1)

Regarding His words, “so that you may be witnesses over mankind”: on the Day of Resurrection, testifying that the messengers conveyed the message to them. Ibn Jurayj said: I asked ʿAṭāʾ, “What is the meaning of His words, ‘so that you may be witnesses over mankind’?” He replied: “The community of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, will be witnesses against all people who abandon the truth.” “And that the Messenger”—Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him—“may be a witness over you,” declaring you upright and commending you. This is because Allah Most High will gather the first and the last on a single plain. Then He will say to the disbelievers among the former communities, “Did no warner come to you?” (al-Mulk 8). They will deny it and say, “No bearer of glad tidings or warner came to us.” Allah will then question the prophets, peace be upon them, concerning this, and they will say, “They lie; we conveyed the message to them.” He will ask them for proof—though He knows them best—in order to establish the proof against them. Then the community of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, will be brought, and they will testify that the prophets conveyed the message. The former communities will say, “How did they know, when they came after us?” He will then question this community, and they will say, “You sent us a Messenger and sent down to him a Book, in which You informed us that the messengers had conveyed the message; and You are truthful in what You have told us.” Then Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, will be brought and asked about the condition of his community; he will commend them and testify to their truthfulness.

ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Aḥmad al-Mulayḥī informed us; Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Naʿīmī informed us; Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf informed us; Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl informed us; Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr informed us; Abū Usāmah informed us. Al-Aʿmash said: Abū Ṣāliḥ informed us, from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Noah will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, and he will be asked, ‘Did you convey the message?’ He will reply, ‘Yes, my Lord.’ His people will then be asked, ‘Did he convey the message to you?’ They will say, ‘No warner came to us.’ It will then be said, ‘Who are your witnesses?’ He will reply, ‘Muhammad and his community.’” The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Then you will be brought, and you will testify.” Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, recited: “And thus We have made you a middle community, so that you may...”