and will kill the swine and shatter the cross, and there will be a single call.”

Recorded by Ahmad (2/394).

I say: Its chain is sound.

An eighth chain from him traces a similar report back to the Prophet, omitting the final sentence and adding:

“Peace will return, swords will be made into sickles, and every venomous creature will lose its venom. The sky will send down its provision, and the earth will bring forth its blessings, so that a child will play with a snake without being harmed by it, a wolf will keep company with sheep without harming them, and a lion will keep company with cattle without harming them.”

Recorded by Ahmad (2/482–483), through Fulayh, from al-Hārith ibn Fudayl al-Ansārī, from Ziyād ibn Saʿd, from him.

I say: Ibn Kathīr (1/169) described its chain as:

“Good, strong, and acceptable.”

In my view, however, this assessment is open to question for two reasons:

First: This Ziyād ibn Saʿd—the Medinan al-Ansārī—was listed by Ibn Abī Hātim (1/2/532), who mentioned his son Saʿd ibn Ziyād as another transmitter from him, but recorded neither criticism of him nor any attestation to his reliability. Ibn Hibbān included him in al-Thiqāt (1/73).

Second: This Fulayh—namely, Ibn Sulaymān al-Khuzāʿī—although among the narrators used by both al-Bukhārī and Muslim, made frequent errors, as al-Hāfiz stated in al-Taqrīb.

I say: It would therefore be more appropriate to say that it is strong by virtue of the preceding corroboration.