It is narrated from Sayyiduna Usayr bin Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: A red windstorm arose in Kufah, and a man came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) who had no other refrain but this: O Abdullah bin Mas'ud! The Hour has come. He said: Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) was reclining, so he sat up and said: "The Hour will not be established until a time comes when no inheritance will be divided and no rejoicing will be had over spoils. An enemy will gather (for war) against the people of Islam, and the people of Islam will gather against them" (and he pointed with his hand towards al-Sham). I asked: Do you mean the Romans? He said: "Yes. And at the time of that war there will be fierce fighting. The Muslims will prepare a detachment pledged to death, which will not return except victorious. They will fight until night comes between them; then these will turn back and those will turn back, neither side victorious, and that (Muslim) detachment will be wiped out. Then the Muslims will again prepare a detachment pledged to death, which will not return except victorious. They will fight until evening; then these will turn back and those will turn back, neither side victorious, and that detachment too will be wiped out. When the fourth day comes, the remaining Muslims will advance against them, and Allah Almighty will bring defeat upon those enemies, and they will be killed in a slaughter the like of which (either he said: has never been seen before, or he said: will never be seen) until a bird will pass by their flanks and fall down dead before it gets past them (their corpses). The children of one father, who had numbered one hundred, will count themselves and find that only one man of them remains. So over what spoils will there be rejoicing, and what inheritance will be divided?" He said: "While they are in this state, they will suddenly hear news even greater than that: a crier will come to them saying that the Dajjal has come out behind you among your children. So they will abandon whatever is in their hands and set off, and they will send ten horsemen as a vanguard." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Indeed, I know their names, the names of their fathers and the colours of their horses; on that day they will be the best horsemen on the face of the earth." Or he said: "They will be the best of those on the face of the earth." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it!