Section on Miscellanies and Anecdotal Pieces
Chapter: Ḥadiths concerning the Antichrist (al-Dajjāl), the portents of the Hour, and other matters

1808 – Al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:
One morning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke to us about the Antichrist. He lowered and raised his voice as he described him, until we thought that the Dajjāl was already hiding among the nearby date-palms. When we went to him later that day, he sensed what had come over us and asked, “What is the matter with you?”
We said, “Messenger of Allah, you spoke this morning about the Antichrist—lowering and raising your voice—until we imagined he was in the palm grove.”
He replied, “It is not the Antichrist that I fear most for you. If he emerges while I am still among you, I will contend with him on your behalf; but if he emerges when I am no longer with you, then every person must contend on his own behalf, and Allah will be my successor in guarding every Muslim.
“He is a young man with very curly hair; one eye is bulging. I can best liken him to ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Qaṭan. Whoever among you encounters him should recite over him the opening verses of Sūrah al-Kahf.
“He will come forth from the area between Syria and Iraq and will wreak havoc to the right and to the left. O servants of Allah, stand firm!
“We asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, how long will he remain on earth?’ He said, ‘Forty days: one day like a year, one day like a month, one day like a week, and the rest of his days like your ordinary days.’
“We asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, on the day that is like a year, will the prayers of a single day suffice us?’ He replied, ‘No; estimate the times for the prayers.’
“We then asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, how swiftly will he travel through the earth?’ He said, ‘Like rain driven by the wind. He will come to a people, summon them, and they will believe in him and respond to him. He will command the sky and it will rain, and the earth and it will produce, so their livestock will return to them in the evening with higher humps than ever, fuller udders, and broader flanks.
“Then he will come to other people and invite them….”