The Dajjal was mentioned in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, and he mentioned it.

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission, its narrators being trustworthy narrators of the two Shaykhs, provided that al-A'mash heard it from Abu Wa'il. However, its chain has been reported differently: al-Bazzar (3391—Kashf al-Astar), as well as Ibn Hibban (6807—al-Ihsan), narrated it through Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash, from al-A'mash, from Sulayman ibn Maysarah, from Tariq ibn Shihab, from Hudhayfah, with similar wording, adding at its end:

“By Allah, it will not harm a Muslim, for it is written between his eyes: disbeliever.”

Its chain is good, in view of the well-known disagreement concerning Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash.

However, Mansur ibn Abi al-Aswad corroborated him from al-A'mash. Al-Bazzar narrated it (3392). The abridger of al-Bazzar said:

“I say: He mentioned something similar, in abbreviated form.”

Thus, we do not know its exact wording or the extent to which it was abridged.

Al-Tabarani likewise narrated it in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (3/185/3017), through Hafs ibn Ghiyath, who said: Al-A'mash narrated to us with the wording:

The Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, said, mentioning the Dajjal: “Written between his eyes is: disbeliever; every Muslim will read it.”

This portion was narrated by Muslim (8/195) and Ahmad (5/386 and 404–405), through Rib'i ibn Hirash, from Hudhayfah, at the end of a hadith of his, with the addition:

“Whether literate or illiterate.”

Al-Haythami said concerning the hadith (7/335):

“Ahmad and al-Bazzar narrated it, and its narrators are the narrators of the authentic collections.” *