It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Mahdi will emerge in the last era of my Ummah. Allah Almighty will provide him with water (through rain), the earth will bring forth its vegetation, he will distribute wealth properly (equally), livestock will be abundant and the Ummah will become great. He will remain for seven or eight years (hajj seasons)." This hadith has a sahih (authentic) chain, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The earth will be filled with oppression and tyranny. Then a man from my family ('itrah, the household) will emerge who will rule for seven or nine (years). He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it had been filled with oppression and tyranny." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Mahdi will be in my Ummah. If his term is short, it will be seven years, otherwise nine years. In that era my Ummah will enjoy such prosperity and blessings as it never enjoyed before. The earth will yield all its produce and will withhold nothing from them. In that time wealth will be (lying) in heaps. A man will stand up and say: O Mahdi! Give to me. And he will say: Take." [End of the Book of Tribulations] Imam al-Hakim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: To the best of my knowledge, I have narrated, in accordance with the conditions of this book and with suitable chains, all the narrations concerning the tribulations of the end of time that were reported from the blessed tongue of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). As for the two Shaykhs, they mentioned the terrors of the Resurrection and the Gathering incidentally within the chapter on tribulations, whereas in this matter I have followed the method chosen by Imam Abu Bakr Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Khuzaymah (may Allah be pleased with him) of presenting these terrors separately and independently from the worldly tribulations. It is Allah alone who grants success in what I have chosen; He is sufficient for me, and He is the best Disposer of affairs. [The Book of Terrors, that is, the account of the terrors of the Day of Resurrection] Allah Almighty has said: "And the Day the Trumpet will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will be terrified, except whom Allah wills, and all will come to Him humbled. And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid" [Surah al-Naml: 87 - 88] . And Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: "And the Trumpet will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead, except whom Allah wills. Then it will be blown again, and at once they will be standing, looking on" [Surah al-Zumar: 68] .