with the seal, so that even those gathered around a dining table will assemble, and one will say, “O believer,” while another says, “O disbeliever.” (1)

It is also related from Ali that he said: “It is not a beast with a tail; rather, it has a beard,” as though he meant that it is a man. (2) The majority, however, hold that it is a beast.

Ibn Jurayj narrated from Abu al-Zubayr that he described the Beast, saying: “Its head is like that of a bull, its eyes like those of a pig, its ears like those of an elephant, its horns like those of a stag, its chest like that of a lion, its color like that of a leopard, its flanks like those of a cat, (3) its tail like that of a ram, and its legs like those of a camel. Between each pair of its joints are twelve cubits. It carries the staff of Moses and the seal of Solomon. No believer will remain except that it will mark him upon his place of prostration with the staff of Moses, leaving a white mark by which his face will shine; and no disbeliever will remain except that it will mark his face with the seal of Solomon, by which his face will turn black. Thus, people will buy and sell in the markets, saying, ‘How much, O believer?’ and, ‘How much, O disbeliever?’ Then the Beast will say to them: ‘So-and-so, you are among the people of Paradise; and so-and-so, you are among the people of the Fire.’ This is the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: ‘And when the Word comes to pass against them, We shall bring forth for them a creature from the earth’—to the end of the verse. (4)

Abu Sa‘id al-Shurayhi informed us; Abu Ishaq al-Tha‘labi informed us; Aqil ibn Muhammad al-Jurjani, the jurist, informed me; Abu al-Faraj al-Mu‘afa ibn Zakariyya al-Baghdadi informed us; Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari informed us; Abu Kurayb informed us; al-Ashja‘i informed us, from Fudayl ibn Marzuq, from Atiyyah, from Ibn Umar, who said: “The Beast will emerge from a fissure in al-Safa at the pace of a running horse for three days, yet not even a third of it will have emerged.” (5)

By the same chain from Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, who said: [Isam ibn Dawud] (6) ibn al-Jarrah narrated to me; my father narrated to us; Sufyan ibn Sa‘id narrated to us; Mansur ibn al-Mu‘tamir informed us, from Rib‘i ibn Hirash, from Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned the Beast. I said, “O Messenger of Allah, from where will it emerge?” He said: “From the mosque most sacred to Allah. While Jesus is circumambulating the House with the Muslims, the earth will shake beneath them, and al-Safa will split open on the side facing al-Mash‘ar. The Beast will emerge from al-Safa, the first part of it to appear being its head, gleaming and covered with fur and feathers. No pursuer will catch it