—and he also mentioned, among the Dajjāl’s trials, that a vigorous young man from the Muslims will confront him and say, “I testify that you are the Dajjāl about whom the Prophet ﷺ informed us.” The impostor will then cleave him in two with a sword, setting the two halves far apart. After doing so he will call out, “O so-and-so!” whereupon the two pieces will rejoin, the youth will stand up, turn toward the Dajjāl with a beaming face, and it will seem as though nothing at all had happened. He will declare, “By Allah, I bear witness that you are indeed the false messiah; my certainty about you has only increased.” The Dajjāl will kill him a second time, cut him in two again, then summon him; the youth will return, his face radiant. The third time the Dajjāl will try but will be unable to kill him. Such is the magnitude of his trial, and anyone who witnesses it is sure to be beguiled.

At that point Allah Most High will send down Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He will descend with his hands resting on the wings of two angels—for the angels possess wings—and they will bring him down from heaven, where Jesus is presently alive. He will come to earth at the onset of the Hour in order to slay the Dajjāl. He will descend looking—as Allah knows best—as though he has just bathed in fragrant water; when he lowers his head, droplets will fall, and when he raises it, they will cascade from him like pearls. Whether this is actual water or perspiration, Allah alone knows.

Jesus will then pursue the vile, deceitful, one-eyed Dajjāl. No disbeliever who inhales the breath of Jesus will survive—glory be to Allah! His very breath kills the unbeliever and reaches as far as his gaze extends. This is one of Allah’s signs, for our own breath travels no more than a handspan, whereas his reaches wherever his sight reaches, enabling him to slay multitudes of disbelievers: the breath moves through the air, and any unbeliever who encounters it dies.

He will come down at the white minaret to the east of Damascus—so the Prophet ﷺ described it, and it must exist when Jesus son of Mary descends. Jesus will then pursue the Dajjāl and overtake him at the gate of Lod. Lod, now in Palestine, has been colonized by the Jews—upon them be Allah’s curses until the Day of Resurrection. Jesus will catch up with him there